RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON TSONGA, RAONIC WIN THREE-SETTERS FOR RESPECTIVE TITLES IN METZ AND ST. PETERSBURG

Written by: Staff on 27th September 2015

Milos Raonic of Canada poses with his trophy after beating Joao Sousa of Portugal in the final of the St.Petersburg Open ATP tennis tournament in St.Petersburg, Russia, 27 September 2015. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV

epa04952935 Milos Raonic of Canada poses with his trophy after beating Joao Sousa of Portugal in the final of the St.Petersburg Open ATP tennis tournament in St.Petersburg, Russia, 27 September 2015. EPA/ANATOLY MALTSEV |

Photo via Instagram

Tsonga, Raonic win three-setters for respective titles in Metz and St. Petersburg

By Ricky Dimon

Gilles Simon was arguably the better player for much of Sunday’s all-French final at the Moselle Open, but Jo-Wilfried raised his level when it matter most to capture the title. A back-and-forth affair went Tsonga’s way 7-6(5), 1-6, 6-2 after two hours and 15 minutes.

A competitive first set saw Simon hold easily from start to finish, whereas Tsonga had to fight off six break points. So it came as little surprise when the No. 2 seed surged to a 5-2 lead in the ensuing tiebreaker. Out of nowhere, though, Tsonga won five consecutive points to steal the set.

Simon recovered quickly to dominate the middle frame of play with the loss of just a single game. Again, however, Tsonga flipped the script in sudden and decisive fashion. The world No. 17 survived a deuce game to begin the third then never came close to dropping serve the rest of the way. He converted his second championship point with Simon serving at 2-5, ad-out.

“I am very happy,” Tsonga commented. “It was a big first set. It’s always tricky to play against Gilles; the ball always comes back.”

Photo via Instagram

A similar matchup of offense vs. defense took place in the St. Petersburg Open title match. Milos Raonic out-aced Joao Sousa 22-0 as the Canadian got the job done 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Raonic saved nine of 10 break points on his way to a triumph after two hours and six minutes of high-quality tennis.

“First of all I’m sorry that I don’t speak Russian,” Sousa told the crowd during the trophy ceremony. “I want to [congratulate] Milos. I think he played a great match and deserved to win. I gave my best but today he was better.”

“That was a fantastic final to be a part of,” Raonic assured.

Briefs

* Tsonga climbs one spot to No. 16 with Metz title

* Simon stays at 10th in rankings, but passed by Tsonga at No. 14 in the race

* Sousa moves into top 50 (47th) by finishing runner-up in St. Petersburg

* Chung wins Challenger title, soars to career-high ranking of No. 58

* Haase also triumphs at Challenger level, advances to 59th

* Harrison loses to Novikov at Columbus Challenger, just misses out on top 100

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp World Tour, Gilles Simon, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Joao Sousa, milos raonic, Moselle Open, Ricky Dimon, Sports, St. Petersburg Open, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

September 27, 2015 at 1:56 pm

-@Dimonator REPORTS ON @tsonga7, @milosraonic WIN THREE-SETTERS FOR RESPECTIVE TITLES IN #Metz AND #StPetersburg – http://t.co/g2vGAZ1hEK