Federer ignores flashbacks to combat Tsonga’s threat

The fourth seed cruised through the opening set at a packed O2 Arena, but Tsonga hit back when Federer’s level dropped in the second and the result looked in doubt until the Swiss broke to edge a tight decider.

The 30-year-old went into the tournament as the man to beat after back-to-back titles in Basel and Paris, where he beat Tsonga in the final to remain unbeaten since the US Open.

The Frenchman, playing at the O2 for the first time, was able to draw on his magnificent Wimbledon victory over Federer this summer, when he became the first man to beat the Swiss at a grand slam from two sets down.

But the world no 4 had won both their most recent meetings and did not take long to move ahead yesterday, breaking in the fourth game after his opponent had let him off the hook in the previous game with a woeful miss.

Tsonga is an exciting but unpredictable player and, as with the opening set in Paris the previous weekend, he simply made far too many mistakes.

Another break to love gave Federer, cheered by French football star Thierry Henry, a fairly uninspiring set in 21 minutes, both men taking their time to adjust to the relatively slow pace of the court.

But Tsonga then benefited from a series of errors by Federer in the third game of the second set to break.

That gave the former Australian Open finalist the lift he needed and he began to play much better, using his brutal power to rush his opponent.

His fearsome forehand was becoming a real feature of the match and he used it to great effect to force another break to move 5-2 ahead, before clinching the set when Federer netted a backhand.

The 16-times grand slam champion had a real fight on his hands, particularly considering he had never previously won a deciding set against Tsonga.

The Frenchman was the first to face a break point in the fifth game, which he saved with a pinpoint forehand, but the outcome remained on a knife-edge.

Federer admitted the Wimbledon loss to Tsonga had been on his mind when the Frenchman began to turn things around in the second set.

The 30-year-old said: “It’s very hard to get into any sort of rhythm against him from the baseline because he’s a very good one-two puncher, which he proved over four and a half sets against me at Wimbledon.

“(Yesterday) I had flashes of that match because I didn’t have much of a chance for a while on his serve. You just try your best.”

Federer, playing in the tournament for the 10th consecutive year, remained confident he would ride out the storm, though, setting up a meeting with Rafael Nadal who beat Mardy Fish 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7/3).

“I thought I wasn’t playing that poorly,” said the fourth seed. “I thought it was a good first set and even the second set was fine. The first break I kind of gave it to him a bit.

“But he did well to serve bigger and better as the match went on. Once he got the upper hand in the second set he started to swing more freely and got more dangerous.

“It was just a case of trying to stay calm, trying to wait for my chance, trying to create chances when he was not serving as well as he did at times.

“I was going to take those chances and hopefully come through with the victory, and it all came that way, exactly the way I hoped it to be.”

Tsonga was disappointed that he again started slowly, and he said of his second-set efforts: “I just tried to put the ball in the court.

“In the first set, I didn’t put one ball in the court. Then I started playing better. I think he was a bit surprised because I played so bad in the first set.”

The Frenchman bemoaned his luck on the final point when Federer’s mis-hit return dropped very short, forcing him into a weak reply.

“I just missed one volley,” he said of the start of the crucial game.

“Then on the match point, he returned with the frame. It is tennis. Sometimes it can go really quick.”