Tsonga Powers to Montpellier Title, Medvedev Making Waves (Written by Emre Saridogan)
After a spending a long time on the side-lines, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is back! The Frenchman beat Pierre Hugues-Herbert 6-4 6-2 in a straightforward final in Montpellier to win his 16thATP title. Having been ranked as high as 5 in the world, Tsonga is currently languishing at 210 in the world rankings, and this title marks the first step in the long journey back into the top of the game, where a player of his talent surely belongs.
Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev’s young career is going from strength to strength, as the Russian cruised to victory in Sofia, beating Marton Fucsovics 6-4 6-3 in the final. This was Medvedev’s fourth ATP title, and he now moves up to 16 in the world at the age of just 22. Medvedev has the best year of his career in 2018 and his record this season is also impressivethus far; he has won 11 matches already and has picked up the 7th most points on tour. Could he be in with a chance of breaking the top 10 or even making the World Tour Finals? If he continues this form, it is more than a distinct possibility.
However, the main story of the week (which is so far nowhere to be seen in the media) is the potential match fixing scandal at the inaugural Cordoba Open in Argentina. Juan Ignacio Londero (ranked 112) beat World Number 77 Federico Delbonis to reach his first ATP final, following up several impressive displays this week. Although the rankings disparity doesn’t seem too vast, an upset like this would normally occur in a fairly competitive match. However, Londero beat Delbonis 6-0 6-1, an unlikely score line under the circumstances. Delbonis is a seasoned ATP pro and was playing in his home country on his favourite surface, which begs the question; how could he possibly have lost by such a margin to a newcomer on the tour? It is this that has sparked accusations of match fixing towards Delbonis. Let me be clear. Londero is not being accused of anything and has reached the final having played some great tennis. But the performance of Delbonis in this match did not correspond to his obvious ability, and questions will be asked as to why, with no sign of injury or illness.