Basilashvili beats Tsonga in Lyon
By Mariam Chanishvili
Friday, May 24
Nikoloz Basilashvili, a Georgian professional tennis player, defeated Tsonga, who is a member of the Tennis Club de Paris. It is the 2nd time that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Nikoloz Basilashvili played against each other.
The Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon was an excellent opportunity for Basilashvili to avenge his 2017 semi-final loss to Tsonga with a 6-4, 6-4 win in 82 minutes at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) 250 clay-court tournament.
Former champion Tsonga took a 2-0 lead, but the situation changed and it soon turned in favor of Basilashvili, who is through to a semi-final for the first time.
Nikoloz Basilashvili will face the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime on May 24. Auger-Aliassime beat Basilashvili in March 2019 at the Miami Open presented.
In July 2018, Basilashvili made it into the main draw of the German Open in Hamburg as a qualifier and went on to win the tournament, defeating Leonardo Mayer in the final and becoming the first Georgian player ever to win an ATP tournament. Basilashvili won the China Open in October 2018.
He has marked a new high in his playing career after reaching the world no.18 spot in ATP ranking in March.
Basilashvili is going to participate in Roland Garros as well, playing with Juan Ignacio Londero, an Argentine professional tennis player on May 26.
Founded in 2017, Lyon Open is a men's tennis event on the ATP Tour held in the French city of Lyon. From 2017, it is part of the ATP 250 Series and is played on outdoor clay courts. The prize for winning the tournament is Euro 540,310.
The event, held before Roland Garros, is one of the five ATP Tour events held in France, along with Montpellier, Marseille, Metz and Paris.
