Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the ATP 1000 Rogers Cup trophy by beating second seeded Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6. The title was Tsonga’s second ATP 1000 win after his 2008 Paris Open success.
Tsonga and Federer held serves deep into the first set. But with Federer serving to stay in the set at 5-6, the Swiss hit an error on his backhand to go set point down. The two time champion then made another error, this one on his forehand, to concede the first set 7-5 to the Frenchman.
That was Federer fifteenth error of the set. With only 9 winners to his name, that -6 differential was costly against an opponent in the form of Tsonga. The Frenchman hit 12 winners to ten unforced errors, with his forehand down the line easily the stroke of the match.
Federer’s serve kept him in the second set. At 2-3, and at 3-4, Federer saved break points with aces as Tsonga piled on the pressure with his attacking game and the kind of confidence earned from beating Djokovic, Murray and Dimitrov on your run to the final.
At 5-6, Federer saved match point with a forehand winner. Ultimately, though, it was the Federer ground game which let him down and all the goodwill of the crowd could not save him from his own inconsistency. In the second set tiebreaker, Tsonag peppered the Federer backhand and got the error and the minibreak for 4-3. Tsonga, on top of his game, confidently served to reach 6-3, and then hit a deep forehand return once more to the Federer backhand and was rewarded with the Swiss hitting into the net.
Game, set and match Tsonga. The surprise was written all over his face and those of his team as he hugged them in the player’s box. But his game, so clear, strong and aggressive, earned him the win and it was no surprise his game got the better of his struggling opponent. While Federer, who said in his post-match speech, did not play how he had planned, Tsonga could not have executed his game better. Nor could, Tsonga said, he have done so against a better opponent than Federer. The Swiss’ presence in the final, Tsonga said, being as important as the title. A title Tsonga has waited a while for after his inury hit 2013/14, and one which, if he continues to be as effective on the serve and his stepping into the court, will make him a serious contender for the upcoming U.S Open title.
Commentary by Christian Deverille
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