The U.S. Open Men’s Singles tournament is down to the round of 16, and it features a mouth-watering matchup between Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the No. 9- and No. 10-ranked players in the world.
Murray, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, is very much accustomed to advancing from this stage of a grand slam tournament, but his recent struggles this year have sent him down the pecking order of the other favorites, whom we discussed in our U.S. Open preview. This could be the opening for Tsonga to take down the decorated Brit.
Read on for more on this tasty tie between two of the top 10 tennis players in the world.
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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Andy Murray, 2014 U.S. Open Men’s Singles Round of 16 Match Preview
Where: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York
[sc:Other240banner ]Since 2008, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has featured in at least one grand slam quarterfinal per year. However, that impressive streak is in some serious jeopardy this year, as the World No. 10 has fallen in this exact stage – the fourth round – in each of the first three grand slams this season.
But a case could be made that he is more than capable of extending his streak when he goes up against Andy Murray today.
For one, Tsonga is playing very well in Flushing Meadows. He easily took care of his last two matches in straight sets, and needed just 30 games to decide his latest victory over Pablo Carreno Busta. Tsonga also recorded double-digit aces and won over 80 percent of his first serve points in both games.
Plus, Tsonga beat Murray in their most recent meeting in the quarterfinal of the Rogers Cup in August. Tsonga eventually won that tournament by after beating Novak Djokovic, Murray, Grigor Dimotrov and Roger Federer – basically half of the current top 10 rankings – in consecutive rounds. Not too shabby.
Betting on Andy Murray
Andy Murray hasn’t quite been himself in this U.S. Open. The current World No. 9 needed four sets to get past relatively easy opponents like Robin Haase and Andrey Kuznetsov. In both matches, he was up two sets to none, but he couldn’t finish them off.
Murray’s questionable form extendes to the pre-U.S. Open tournaments, where he crashed out of both the Rogers Cup and the Cincinnati Masters to Tsonga and to Roger Federer, respectively. Murray is currently winless (0-5) vs. the top 10-ranked players in the world in 2014.
But even with his struggles, he has a proven track record when it comes to advancing deep into the grand slams. He’s reached at least the quarterfinal stage in every single grand slam he’s entered (he missed the 2013 French Open), a span of 14 consecutive tournaments.
Although Tsonga won their latest meeting last month, it only broke a streak of eight straight consecutive Murray wins against the Frenchman. Murray holds an overwhelming career head-to-head lead, 9-2.
Writer’s Prediction
Tsonga (+110) takes advantage of Murray’s poor form and knocks the Brit out in four sets. Create a betting account today and have your say in who advances in the 2014 U.S. Open.
