Tsonga Opens 2012 US Open Bid with a Win over Beck

France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga opened his 2012 U.S. Open bid with a straight-set victory over Slovakia’s Karol Beck.  Now in his 5th run at the tournament, the 5th seed is hoping to improve upon his 2011 QF results – his best to date.  With a lot of the ATP’s top players getting off to a bit of a shaky start, it was just another day at the office for Tsonga.  He got an early break over Beck in the first set and took it 6-3 following 4 aces and winning over 80% of his 1st serve points.

The second set raced by in just 31 minutes, with Beck struggling to return his opponent’s serve.  The 30 year old Beck had two chances to break Tsonga’s serve, but was able to convert.  On the other side of the net, Tsonga broke Beck’s serve 3 times to take the 2nd set at 6-1.

However, a match isn’t over until 3 sets are won and Beck began to put up quite a fight in the 3rd set.  The Slovakian tightened up his game as Tsonga’s serve started to head south.  Trying to keep the pressure on the Frenchman, Tsonga hit 21 unforced errors in the final set and the pair traded breaks before entering a tie break.  Getting back to business, Tsonga was unchallenged in the tie break, taking it, the set and the match at 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2).

Aside from his lapse in the 3rd set, Tsonga looks to be in good form in the early stages of the tournament.  In his match today against Beck he showed off some impressive net play that will surely pay him dividends as he makes his way through the rounds. In the second round the 5th seed will meet 52nd-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia.