Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed a fast change of tactics to reach the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open as he defeated Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday.
France’s third seed, playing the clay event for the first time, finds himself in a surprise showdown with Thiemo de Bakker, who upset 2001 winner and seventh seed Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4).
There were only two bright spots for Spain, with six of eight representatives from the country losing.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Monte Carlo runner-up Fernando Verdasco, seeded fifth, rallied to beat Austrian Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, while two-time losing finalist David Ferrer won in 44 minutes when Simone Bolelli of Italy quit injured trailing 6-0, 3-0. Swedish second seed Robin Soderling went through after he defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-2.
Tsonga said he had to shift strategy back to the fast-paced game he knows best to get out of danger.
“I wasn’t sliding well at the start, the clay was quite heavy,” Tsonga said. “I was struggling to adjust myself to the ball. Then I started to play a bit more how I play on hard court, which enabled me to get back into the match in the second and third sets.”
Tsonga, now 17-7 for the season and looking for his first ever title on clay, says he faces a tough task against Dutchman De Bakker.
“It will be difficult, I played him in Davis Cup on indoor clay,” Tsonga said of the 21-year-old, who is ranked 67th in the world. “It was a tough match, very difficult. He’s going to go up in the rankings in the next few months and has a lot of potential.”
Tsonga has now beaten the 15th-seeded Almagro in all three of their meetings this year, earning victories at the Australian Open after a 9-7 fifth set and a week ago in straight sets at Monte Carlo.
Tsonga was beaten on a late break of serve in the opening set by Almagro, one of eight Spanish players who began the third round, but Tsonga imposed his big game for 5-0 in the second set on the way back to level-pegging at a set apiece.
The seed went up an early break in the third set to seal the victory, firing eight aces and breaking four times.
The eighth-seeded Ferrer, a former top 10 player now standing 17th, will next meet Brazilian 13th seed Thomas Bellucci, a winner over Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-4. Ferrer is appearing in a Barcelona quarter-final for the fourth year in a row.
Argentine Eduardo Schwank defeated another Spaniard, Ivan Navarro Pastor, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7).
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