Tennis
Tsonga sees off Kohlschreiber
2012-07-04 19:57
London - France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached
his second successive Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-6 4-6 7-6 6-2 win
over German Philipp Kohlschreiber on Wednesday.
A relieved Tsonga
performed his victory twirl around Court One after breaking
Kohlschreiber for the second time in the fourth set to win an engrossing
but sometimes scrappy encounter in two hours 48 minutes.
The fifth seed sealed victory on his first match point after rushing to the net and firing a forehand crosscourt winner.
"It was difficult today. Philipp played well, he served well, he was
better than me on the baseline, he was very aggressive," Tsonga said.
"But I'm through, and I'm happy. It doesn't matter who I play in the semi-final. It's a second chance after last year.
Tsonga, who lost to Djokovic in the semis last year, will next meet the
winner of the quarter-final between fourth seed Andy Murray and Spain's
David Ferrer.
The 27-year-old Frenchman took a while to get into
his stride, struggling with his first serve and forehand which went
straight into the net more times than he will care to remember.
One occasion unfortunately coincided with a huge cheer from Centre
Court, where Murray and Ferrer were locked in battle, to the amusement
of the watching fans.
For three sets, 27th seed Kohlschreiber was
a match for his higher ranked opponent and appeared happy to come into
the net or it slug out from the baseline with Tsonga.
The German
saved five break points in the third set, three thanks to Tsonga netting
forehands, and the final with a delectable backhand volley at the net.
But Tsonga, who had a 5-1 career record against Kohlschreiber, took the
tiebreak when his opponent netted and that seemed to galvanise the
French number one.
He raced through the fourth set, breaking
Kohlschreiber for a 3-1 lead and the German sent a forehand long to set
up matchpoint for Tsonga.