STEVIE JOHNSON EDGES JO WILFRIED TSONGA IN WINSTON-SALEM – LATEST TENNIS NEWS

Written by: Staff on 27th August 2015

STEVIE JOHNSON EDGES JO WILFRIED TSONGA IN WINSTON-SALEM - LATEST TENNIS NEWS |

Great crowd tonight in @winstonsalemopen as @steviej345 ousts third seed #Tsonga 6-3 4-6 7-6(4) for a spot in the quarter-finals. #ATP #tennis #stevejohnson – Photo by @atpworldtour via Instagram.

No. 13 Steve Johnson overcame No. 3 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) in two hours on Wednesday in Winston-Salem. The American secured the win on his fourth match point in the deciding tie-break and notched his second Top-20 win of the year (d. Dimitrov in Washington, D.C.)

Johnson saved all five break points faced en route to taking the first set, but saw Tsonga force a decider when the Frenchman won the lone break point of the second set. In the third-set tie-break, Tsonga saved three match points from 1/6 down before succumbing.

“I was fortunate to hold my ground in the third set until the tie-break,” said Johnson. “It’s always difficult to keep your sense of urgency after getting a couple of mini-breaks, but I was able to do that, make a good first serve at 6/4 and call it a night.”

In the quarter-finals, Johnson, ranked No. 49 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, will take on No. 106 Yen-Hsun Lu. Lu leads the FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0, most recently triumphing against Johnson in the quarter-finals of Auckland in 2014.

Earlier, experience triumphed over youth as Lu overcame Hyeon Chung 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5 in two hours and 35 minutes. Lu won fewer points than his opponent (103 to 109) overall and was down by a break in the final set, but came back to claim the win on his third match point.

Aljaz Bedene, who had knocked out top seed Gilles Simon on Tuesday, was sent packing 6-3, 6-0 in 56 minutes by qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Herbert was stellar on serve, hitting eight aces, landing 67 per cent of first serves and saving all five break points faced. Conversely, Bedene only landed 48 per cent of first serves and was broken four times on seven occasions.

In the quarter-finals, Herbert will take on the unseeded Pablo Carreno Busta, who beat Simone Bolelli 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in one hour and 52 minutes. Carreno Busta struck 13 aces and pressured Bolelli with his return, converting on five of 14 break points in the match. In the third set, the Spaniard raced to a 4-0 lead, then sealed the win on his third match point.

Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/winston-salem-2015-wednesday-johnson

Topics: Atp World Tour, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, sports news, Stevie Johnson, Tennis, Winston Salem Open

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10sBalls_com says:

August 27, 2015 at 10:06 am

-@SJohnson_89 EDGES @tsonga7 IN WINSTON-SALEM – LATEST #TENNIS NEWS- http://t.co/Hkbz1R3G2z #SteveJohnson #Tsonga #WinstonSalem #ATP