Poor serving costs Tsonga dear against Nadal

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rued his poor serving after wasting a golden opportunity to beat defending champion Rafael Nadal for a second time at the Pacific Life Open on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Frenchman held a commanding 5-2 lead in the third set before losing his fourth-round clash with the second-seeded Spaniard 6-7 7-6 7-5.

"My serve was not very good in the third set and I tried to hit the ball more and more," Tsonga told reporters after a fluctuating match lasting just over three hours.

"Maybe it was the wrong way," added the Frenchman, who won only six of 13 points in the third set on his second serve. He fired 12 aces during the match but none in the final set.

"For me, it is maybe easier to change to various (strategies) but I didn't do that.

"He served well at 5-2 and then at 5-3 he broke me and then he served well again. After that, it was tough because he was in a good state of mind so it was difficult for me."

Tsonga stunned the tennis world when he upset Nadal 6-2 6-3 6-2 in the last four of the Australian Open in January before losing to Serb Novak Djokovic in the final.

IMPRESSIVE RUN