Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play the 2nd round of the Australian Open on Thursday as the second match of the night session at the Rod Laver Arena. Since they are scheduled after the clash between Genie Bouchard and Serena Williams, they are expected to play at 9 or 9.30 pm.
Djokovic
The world no.1 is the hot favorite to win this Australian Open. However, Nole had a rather clumsy run in Doha to lose in the semifinal after struggling in almost every match. Djokovic had a good start in the first round of the Australian Open against the world no.230 Mitchell Krueger to win 6-3 6-2 6-2. Nole was strangely over-emotional during his 1st round win to raise some concerns.
Tsonga
Currently ranked only 177, Jo-Wilfried is trying to get back to his very best after the knee operation that he had last year. Tsonga received a wild card to access the main draw in Melbourne where he defeated Martin Klizan in the first round 6-4 6-4 7-6 (5). The Frenchman also had a good run in Brisbane where he reached the semifinal after beating the local favorite Alex De Minaur 6-4 7-6 (2) before losing to the Daniil Medvedev.
The rematch of their 2008 final
Djokovic and Tsonga played the final in Melbourne back in 2008 in what was Jo-Wilfried’s most important run in a slam.
Nole commented
“I have tremendous respect for Jo. We are going to face each other again hopefully on this court [the Rod Laver Arena] in a few days.
It’s funny, I mean, 11 years after our first Grand Slam final here, it feels like a lot has happened for both of us. He also struggled with injuries lately. It’s good to see him playing well. It’s good to see him back.”
H2H Novak Djokovic vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Nole and Jo-Wilfried have faced each other on 22 occasions. The head to head is 16-6 for the world no.1
Djokovic is 1/12 to win the match, and to demonstrate just how likely these odds are, a £10 bet is only going win you 80p.
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