French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is set for the St. Petersburg quarterfinals. No. 2 seed Tsonga survived a tricky match against unseeded Portuguese national Joao Sousa 7-6 (1) 3-6 6-2. Tsonga, 32, and 28-year-old Sousa played against each other on Thursday for the first time.
After losing a tight opener, Sousa refused to give up, as he eventually broke Tsonga in the eighth game of the second set to open up a 5-3 lead. Tsonga kept pressing Sousa, but the Portuguese national saved two break points in the ninth game to force a decider. Tsonga then broke Sousa in the fourth game of the third set to open up a 3-1 lead.
The Frenchman never looked back, as he comfortably closed out the match.
Tsonga fired 16 aces and also won 90 percent of his first serve points in the win over Sousa. Tsonga, who was 0-of-7 in break point conversion after the opening two sets, converted each two of his break point tries in the third set. Tsonga sealed the win after two hours and nine minutes spent on the court.
Favorable matchup for Tsonga
Tsonga will face next eighth-seeded Jan-Lennard Struff. The German eased past world No. 70 Thomas Fabbiano 6-1 6-4 to reach the St. Petersburg quarterfinals. Tsonga hopes to continue his streak against Struff on Friday. Tsonga has three wins and zero losses against Struff. Can Struff pull off an upset and beat Tsonga on Friday?
Bautista Agut joins Tsonga
St. Petersburg top seed Roberto Bautista Agut managed to beat Rogerio Dutra Silva in the round of 16. Spain's Bautista Agut defeated the Brazilian in three sets 6-4 4-6 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals. Dutra Silva threatened to beat Bautista Agut for the first time in his career, but, in the end, Dutra Silva ended up losing for the third time to the Spaniard.
Bautista Agut kept his focus after he lost the second set, as he took the decider with just four points lost. Bautista Agut converted all three of his break point chances in the third set. Overall, the Spaniard converted 6-of-12 of his break point chances during the clash. The match came to an end after an hour and 39 minutes of play.
Next up No. 7 seed Troicki
Bautista Agut is set to meet next seventh seed Viktor Troicki. Serbia's Troicki edged Guido Pella of Argentina 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-4 to reach the St. Petersburg quarter-finals. Bautista Agut and Troicki will be meeting for the fourth time in their careers on Friday. The head-to-head record favors the Spaniard, who has three wins and zero losses against Troicki.
