Brisbane International: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beats Alex de Minaur in quarter-final
Alex de Minaur had a dent put in his Australian Open preparations on Friday night when French showman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sent the last Australian player packing from the Brisbane International.
Alex de Minaur had a dent put in his Australian Open preparations on Friday night when French showman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sent the last Australian player packing from the Brisbane International.
The firepower of the bigger, stronger Tsonga, on the comeback trail from knee surgery, tipped their Pat Rafter Arena quarter-final, with the former world No.5 prevailing 6-4 7-6 (7-2).
De Minaur, 19, fell one round short of his 2018 Brisbane semi-final result.
But with a live ranking of No.29 going into the match and top-10 player Juan Martin del Potro out injured he is safely among the 32 seeds for the Australian Open.
Experience subdued the urgency of youth, as Tsonga, 14 years older than his quicksilver opponent, played an explosive, if thoughtful match.
It booked him a semi-final on Saturday night against Russia’s fourth seed Daniil (correct) Medvedev.
De Minaur will go to the Sydney International, which starts on Sunday, as fifth seed in a tournament in which he is defending runner-up ranking points.
De Minaur said he felt had dealt with the extra expectation on him in his first Australian tournament since he stormed into the top 40.
“He was able to unload on his forehand and he hit 41 winners to like 20 unforced errors, so that’s pretty high numbers,’’ he said.
“It’s a tricky match-up. It was one of those days things didn’t go my way.
“I have a lot of expectations this year and I thought I handled it really well. I was a couple of points away today.
“It’s not the result I wanted, but I’m continuously learning. It’s something that is never going to change for me.
De Minaur said he enjoyed talking to Horn before the match about his training camps and he hopes the boxer would come to another of his matches.
“I’m grateful Jeff came to watch,’’ he said.
The young right-hander will go to the Australian Open with public expectations tempered a little.
Tsonga won only one of his six matches last year after a seven-month recovery period from knee surgery.
The 2008 Australian Open runner-up is ranked No.239 but will be inside the top 200 in Monday’s rankings list.
Tsonga’s second-set tiebreak was a masterpiece of aggression and variety.
Rapid serving from Tsonga, who clocked 215km/h on one point, saved three break points at 2-3 in the second set, allied to a volley winner in a rally.
De Minaur had his serve broken twice in the first set, with his delivery at 4-5 being exposed by two big Tsonga forehands in that game.
“I played a great match. I expected something like this (contest) because I’ve seen him play a few times,’’ Tsonga said.
“It was good tennis. I’m really happy with the way I played.’’
Medvedev sees off Raonic
Russian Daniil Medvedev has terminated Milos Raonic’s six-year association with the Brisbane International in a tense three-set quarter-final.
Raonic lost what is likely to be his last Brisbane International match, 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-4 to world No.16 Medvedev on Friday.
Tennis Australia, which owns the tournament, plans to make it a women’s-only event in 2020, with the Queensland Tennis Centre earmarked to host some ties in the ATP Cup men’s teams competition.
A disconsolate Raonic has started each of his past five Australian summers in Brisbane, winning the 2016 final to deny Roger Federer a second Tennyson title.
But Canada’s 2016 Wimbledon runner-up will take heart from an Australian Open point of view in how he played strongly in his first three matches in Brisbane after calling a halt to his 2018 season due to a torn triceps.
Raonic, 28, won the first set tiebreak with his 12th ace and also hit 22 winners in it to Medvedev’s 12.
But fourth seed Medvedev’s mobility and backcourt prowess allowed him to contend with the Canadian’s power well enough to eke out the decisive break of serve in the third set.
Medevev, 22, gained hard-won respect on the ATP Tour last year, starting it at No.84 and playing with such resilience that he won more hardcourt matches, 38, in the season than any other man.
Medvedev’s semi-final opponent will be either Australian Alex de Minaur, who he beat in last summer’s Sydney International final, or France’s former world No.5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Raonic will practice and attend to sponsorship commitments in Melbourne next week before the Australian Open.
As the 18th ranked player, he will miss a top-16 seed by one place unless another player ranked higher than him other than Juan Martin de Potro (knee) also withdraws from the year’s first Grand Slam event.
Queenslanders John Millman and John-Patrick Smith lost their Brisbane International doubles semi-final 6-7 (7-9) 7-6 (7-3) (10-8) to New Zealander Marcus Daniell and Dutchman Wesley Koolhoff.
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Originally published as Brisbane International: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beats Alex de Minaur in quarter-final
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