Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face a third consecutive fellow Frenchman when he goes up against Jeremy Chardy on Friday in Montpellier. The quarterfinal schedule also includes a showdown between Tomas Berdych and Filip Krajinovic.
(WC) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. (6) Jeremy Chardy
Chardy and Tsonga will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the first time in more than four years when they battle for a place in the Open Sud de France semifinals on Friday. Tsonga is leading the head-to-head series 3-1, including 2-1 on hard courts (all outdoors). They faced each other once each in 2012, 2013, and 2014, with Chardy getting the job done at the Canada Masters, Tsonga prevailing at Roland Garros, and most recently Tsonga scoring a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory in a Canada Masters rematch.
Finally armed with a clean bill of health, Tsonga’s 2019 campaign is off to an encouraging start. The 33-year-old Frenchman beat Alex de Minaur en route to the Brisbane semis, advanced one round at the Australian Open (lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic) and so far in Montpellier he has ousted compatriots Ugo Humbert and Gilles Simon. Chardy booked his spot in the quarters by disposing of lucky loser Adrian Menendez-Maceiras and qualifier Antoine Hoang in straight sets. The sixth seed is also in fine form, but this is a steep step up in competition and Tsonga’s superiority indoors should make a slight difference.
Pick: Tsonga in 3
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Tomas Berdych vs. Filip Krajinovic
Like Tsonga, Berdych missed much of 2018 due to injury but he is coming back with a vengeance. The 33-year-old Czech finished runner-up in Doha, advanced to the Australian Open fourth round (fell to eventual runner-up Rafael Nadal), and dominated his first two Montpellier matches against Evgeny Donskoy and Benoit Paire in easy straight sets. Down at 77th in the rankings due to inactivity, Berdych is well on his way back up with a 9-2 record this season.
Up next for the former world No. 4 on Friday is a first-ever showdown against Krajinovic, who has advanced this week with mostly routine victories over qualifier Nicolas Mahut and second-seeded David Goffin. Although the defeat of Goffin looks good on paper, the Belgian is a shadow of his former self at the moment. The 72nd-ranked Serb’s only significant test of this 2019 campaign came in the third round Down Under and resulted in a four-set setback against Borna Coric. A red-hot Berdych will likely have too much power for Krajinovic, especially on an indoor hard court.
Pick: Berdych in 2
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WWW?
Tsonga in 2, Berdy in 3
Tsonga in 3, Berdych in 3
Berdych in 3, but it will be very competitive. Tsonga in 3 as well, but I think he wins the deciding set comfortably. He has way more motivation to make the final because he needs to get his ranking up. Chardy wouldn’t be too upset to lose in the quarterfinals against his countryman.
dang it Shapovalov
Warning regarding Tsonga match: line shift from -290 to -250. I realize it’s a couple hours before the match starts but based on all of the suspicions lines this week I thought that would be worth a mention. Also, RBA’s line jumped up from -325 to -400 just before the match was to start- but he gave Fucsovics a walk over maybe 5 minutes after the movement.
Saw the same thing. Medvedev line went from -300 to -400 literally 20 seconds before close and he crushed Klizan. Tsitis went from -150 to -120 and Monfils is in complete control. If that Tsonga match drops again, Chardy is the play
How the hell do oddsmakers know this??? There has to be someone reporting from on court somehow.
I had a parlay on Berdych, Medvedev, and Tsonga but I hedged after seeing that line move. Ended up putting a little on Mitchell Krueger at +150 playing in his hometown Dallas challenger and took Chardy at +200.
I know this type of stuff happens in tennis fairly often, but I am incredibly surprised at how blatant the fixes have been this week. It has happened at all 3 tournaments, and practically every match in cordoba
And just like that Monfils gets the straight set victory. Based on the line movement I’d say you can add that one to the list of fixes
Tsonga in 2; Berd in 2.
both won, but in 3
Tennis is a joke. I dread the day the big three leave, it may blow up. This site even knows it but still keeps on rolling