LONDON: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has become the latest casualty at The Queen’s Club after crashing out to Gilles Muller in the second round of the Aegon Championships.
Facing a player renowned for his blistering serve, Tsonga knew of the danger he faced. On the other hand, the Frenchman previously triumphed over his rival by winning three out of their four meetings since 2014, including one this year.
Muller proved Statistics to be irrelevant in the match as he outclassed Tsonga 6-4, 6-4, on the grass. He was more aggressive, more confident and crucially had the better consistency of the two. This was illustrated in the opening set when he dropped just four points behind his serve.
“He just played good tennis. You know, sometimes you cannot do anything, because the guy in front of you is playing well and he’s doing the right things to make you play in a bad way. And that’s it.” An upbeat Tsonga reflected during his press conference.
Tsonga, who is seeking redemption following his first round loss at the French Open, continued to battle during what was an intriguing encounter. Still, it was not enough to disrupt Muller’s momentum as he secured the early break at the start of set two with a backhand volley at the net. A couple games later, the fifth seed had two chances to break back and level, but was denied by a Muller ace following by a cross-court winner at the net. It was if the Luxemburg player was toying around with the world No.10. Strolling towards the finish line, the upset was completed with the help of a Muller slice serve down the line.
“I played him a few times. He won; I won. It’s always close. Before the match, when you go on, you just think about to win no matter what happen. But today he was just too good and me not enough good, you know, to play at this level.”
The loss comes a day after the top three seeds (Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic) crashed out of the tournament. With so many of his key rivals out of the draw, some speculated that extra pressure contributed towards Tsonga’s second round performance. A theory swiftly dismissed by 32-year-old, who instead pointed out Muller’s recent triumph in s-Hertogenbosch.
“No, not at all, because I knew before that it’s going to be difficult. Gilles is playing well. He just won a tournament.” He explained.
Down, but not out
Refusing to be too critical of his performance at The Queen’s Club, Tsonga’s focus will now switch to Wimbledon. A two-time semifinalist at SW19, the Frenchman plans to put ‘a little more energy’ in his game.
Since Indian Wells, the world No.10 has only managed to win back-to-back matches in one out of six tournaments. A sharp contrast to February, who he won two tournaments within two weeks. The recent results might be disheartening for some, but Tsonga is relying on his experience to guide him through the patchy period.
“I’m used to be in that kind of position. I won only 15 tournaments in my career and I played maybe 200. Maybe more, I don’t know. So most of the time I’m going home with a loss.” Tsonga concluded.
