Jo-Wilfried Tsonga seems to be playing his way into form. After starting the year with a quarter-final showing in Doha, where he lost to Tomas Berdych, the popular Frenchman has got his Australian Open campaign off to a good start.
Following his first round victory over Thiago Monteiro in four sets, Tsonga went one better in the second round, beating Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic very comfortably 62 62 63.
Tsonga was playing tennis well above the level of Lajovic, who caused the Frenchman few problems. The main form of resistance came when after Tsonga had broken to lead in the third set. Lajovic pegged him back at two-all, only to immediately hand the break back. Tsonga did not relinquish the break this time, safely earning his place in the third round of the grand slam that he once reached the final of back in 2008.
Tsonga’s task may well get more difficult in round three, as he is to face the winner of the match between Karen Khachanov and twenty-third seed Jack Sock. Sock recently won the Auckland Open, and is in terrific form.
In other early men’s action, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan failed to build on his shock win over Lucas Pouille in the first round, going down 62 63 75 to Tunisian Malek Jaziri. Bublik had served for the third set at five-four, but Jaziri rallied to win the last three games. The tournament nevertheless represents a great success for Bublik, who qualified and knocked out a seed in his best tournament showing in his young career to date.
The result ensures that Jaziri reaches the third round of a grand slam for the first time. His previous best was a second round showing at Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016. He will face the winner of the match between John Isner of the United States, and Germany’s Mischa Zverev, who were playing out on crt. 8 at the time.
