Paris Masters 2018: First Round Match to Watch - Tsonga vs Raonic

It’s very rare that one gets to see two former top five players facing each other in the first round of a Masters 1000 event. But that is exactly what we have got at 2018 Paris Masters.

The 2008 Champion and former world number 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is going to face the former world number 3 Milos Raonic in the first round of the Paris Masters. Both players have suffered multiple devastating injury blows in the recent years and thanks to their current rankings, they are now set to play each other in the round of 64, instead of the quarterfinals or semis.

Among the two, Raonic is the one who seems to be nearly back to full fitness. He has already played 46 matches this year, but has lost 15 of those. His current ranking of 21 is a true reflection of where he is at in terms of his tennis. He is still able to compete with the top players but has not been able to pull off wins on any regular basis. He is yet to win a title this year.

Tsonga's career has been plagued by injuries in recent times

Injuries have plagued the career of Tsonga too, and unlike Raonic, he seems to be not yet fully recovered. He has played only 10 matches this year, and lost half of those. His ranking has plummeted to 256 now, which makes his return to the top that much more difficult as he will be drawn to play the seeded players in almost every tournament he enters into in near future. In a way, he must thank his stars that he has not drawn a Djokovic or Federer in his opening round!

Though injuries have left these two former top 5 players and Grand Slam finalists a pale shadow of themselves, it will be wrong to assume that the match does not have any potential to be an exciting one. Even in their peak, neither Raonic nor Tsonga has had the reputation of great returners.

They primarily depended on their big serves to ride roughshod over lesser players and bail them out from difficult situations against the better players. On the evidence of their last few matches, they both seem to be serving really well. So, that in itself will be something to be excited about for millions of tennis fans.

There is nothing much to choose between them if one looks at their head to head record. Of the five matches they have played with each other, Raonic has won three and Tsonga two. But what is noteworthy is that Raonic has got the better of Tsonga in their last three meetings.

On the hard courts, they have split the two matches they have played. The indoor hard court of Paris is going to decide who breaks this tie. Even though the fitter Canadian seems to have an edge over Tsonga, the adoring home crowd may spur the Frenchman to start his Paris Masters campaign on a winning note.

And whoever wins this has the added incentive of meeting Roger Federer in the second round!