In its final stages, the ATP 250 event in Marseille has a serious load of French athletes. Nick Kyrgios, the defending champion, was the only one who could have ruined the party but in yesterday's semifinals, he was ousted by a well-grounded Tsonga who eventually claimed the title. The 2nd semifinals put together 2 Frenchman, namely Lucas Pouille, a young rising player, and Richard Gasquet, the French veteran of the ATP circuit. The youngest one was successful which further transposed into a 100% French final showdown.
Tsonga and his smart approach
In the Marseille final, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and his young fellow compatriot Lucas Pouille met for a 2nd time at an ATP level tournament. Their previous match-up took place last year during the clay swing in Monte Carlo having Tsonga with the winning hand 6-4, 6-4. Today's match was pretty much the same as Tsonga sealed the title with 2 symmetrical sets 6-4, 6-4. On his own serve, he was totally in control as he offered zero opportunities. Pouille, who also owns a big first serve, struggled but he could not maintain the pace and ended up losing his service game once on each set. It was enough for Tsonga to walk home with a 2nd ATP title in 2017.
Tsonga bounces back into the top 10
With the points given for his performance, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will make his way back into the top 10. After he suffered a categorical defeat in the Australian Open's quarterfinals against Stan Wawrinka, Tsonga regrouped and he is definitely building momentum. A couple of weeks ago he raised above his head another title in Rotterdam at an ATP 500 tournament.
Now that he is back in the top 10, the upcoming events can be tackled with some extra confidence. In Melbourne, except for a few moments, he seemed off the road with so little to put on the tennis court. His return to form is also great for the competition. With all the top players up and competing, including Federer, Nadal and other rising stars, it will be interesting to see how things evolve at the top of the rankings.
