Tsonga thrashes Norrie to sweep into second round
LONDON – Twice Wimbledon semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga breezed into the second round on Monday with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 victory over British wildcard Cameron Norrie, whose first grand slam appearance ended in a swift and painful exit.
Tsonga, the 12th seed, was dumped out in the second round last year but was never forced out of second gear as he swatted Norrie aside on Court Two.
The Frenchman began in his usual languid fashion before cranking up the pressure to break twice and take the first set against the South African-born Norrie, who has only recorded one tour-level victory.
While Norrie had weapons, principally a decent serve and a whip-crack forehand, they were all too often firing off target, allowing Tsonga to move through the gears at key moments.
The match became increasingly one-sided in the second set as Norrie double-faulted to hand Tsonga a break in the sixth game before tamely netting a backhand to fall two sets behind.
Tsonga broke twice again in the third set to wrap up victory in one hour and 23 minutes.