ROTTERDAM, February 19, 2017
One day after capturing his 400th match win, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lifted his first trophy at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. Tsonga rallied from a set down to overcome the tournament’s number three David Goffin 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in Sunday’s final.
The 31-year-old Frenchman fired 10 aces, winning 80 per cent of his first service points to prevail in one hour and 55 minutes. By clinching his 13th ATP World Tour title and second at the 500 level after Tokyo 2009, Tsonga takes away €371,620 in prize money as well as 500 ATP ranking points.
“I’m really happy. These titles come at the right moments. The last couple of months I put in a lot of effort to come back to this level. It’s a huge reward for me and it gives me new expectations for the rest of the year,” told Tsonga, who is the first Frenchman to triumph at the Ahoy Rotterdam since Michael Llodra in 2008.
Goffin was appearing in his eighth ATP World Tour final, bidding for a third title. With his run to the final, the 26-year-old Rocourt native will become the first Belgian to break into the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday.
“It was a great week in the end. There was a lot of emotion this week and I won a lot of matches. I was a bit tired today. I started the final really well, but in the end Jo played better than me, especially in the third set. Of course I’m disappointed, but I played some good tennis and will be in the Top 10 on Monday,” Goffin said.
Dodig And Granollers Take Doubles Title
Earlier the day, new pairing Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Spaniard Marcel Granollers defeated Dutch wild card tandem of Wesely Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop 7-6, 6-3 to claim the doubles title in one hour and 13 minutes.
“We have played some amazing tennis together. We played some great matches at the Australian Open, played the quarter-finals and lost a tough match to the Bryans. I am really happy the way we are playing and hopefully we can continue this level,” told Dodig, who lifted his seventh doubles title.
Granollers captured his 14th doubles crown and added: “I am very happy. We played great tennis all week in all of the matches. Without a doubt, it has been a great start with Ivan, reaching the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and winning an [ATP World Tour] 500 title. We are very happy with our form.”
