Seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Advanced to The Round of 16 at The US Open

Seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to the round of 16 at the US Open on Sunday by defeating fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-4.

From the way that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played Sunday, you wouldn’t have thought that he never made it passed the 3rd round of the US Open. Tsonga comfortably breezed by fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4, to advance to the round of 16, a level he has never reached here in Flushing. He will face Fernando Gonzalez on Tuesday.

While Tsonga has made it farther than this in other Slams, he has never advanced past this point at the Open, losing to Tommy Robredo in 2008, and Rafael Nadal in 2007. But in 2009, he didn’t come close to facing the same fate. His straight sets victory marked his 3rd of the tournament. He joins Nikolay Davydenko and Gael Monfils as the only man to make the 4th round without dropping a set.

Tsonga dominated on Sunday with his forehand that repeatedly left Benneteau behind whenever he ripped it down the lines. His serve was also in top form. He wasn’t broken at all and didn’t even allow Benneteau a break chance until the third set. In his three matches, he has been broken only once, and has allowed only five break points.

The battle between the Frenchmen was close for a bit. Both players held serve in the first set, but in the tiebreak, two costly double faults from Benneteau led to two set points for Tsonga. And on the first one, Tsonga smashed his patented forehand down the left sideline, leaving Benneteau to watch it go by untouched.

Unfortunately for the unseeded Benneteau, it would become a familiar sight. While he tried to keep the rallies to Tsonga’s backhand, eventually Tsonga would find an opening to let his powerful forehand loose. Tsonga seemed to win every baseline to baseline rally, outlasting Benneteau who only hit 21 winners, compared to his 42.

And as the match went on, Tsonga only seemed to get stronger. Leading 4-1 in the second set, he blasted a 125 mph first serve for an ace, followed by another 125 mph first serve that Benneteau hit into the net, followed by another 125 mph ace, followed by a 124 mph first serve that Benneteau hit into the net. The game didn’t last more than 90 seconds.

Appropriate for a player who has been steadily gathering momentum up to this point in the tournament. At the Olympus US Open Series in Montreal, Tsonga defeated Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. It is Federer’s only loss in his last 29 matches, dating back to May 2.

What seems to be the difference for Tsonga?

“I feel better this year,” Tsonga said simply. “Last year I was coming off my surgery. Now I feel good physically.”

If that continues to be true into the second of week of the US Open, the rest of the men’s draw better look out for this Frenchman.

Tsonga will face Chilean 11th seed Fernando Gonzalez for a berth in the quarter-finals.

No Frenchman has won a Grand Slam singles crown since Yannick Noah at the 1983 French Open, but seventh-seed Tsonga, last year's Australian Open runner-up, and 13th-seed Gael Monfils are still in the hunt to end the drought.

"He serves really big and he has strong shots," Gonzalez said. "We have to see who can make more winners."