Tsonga the Master in Paris

Tsonga: heading for Shanghai

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Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his first Masters Series title with a 6-3 4-6 6-4 victory over David Nalbandian in Paris.

Playing in his first Masters final, the 13th seed was clearly nervous in front of his adoring home fans but did just enough to see off the defending champion.

The 23-year-old's serve was the key as he fired down 25 aces on his way to securing his place at the Masters Cup in Shanghai later this month.

This first-ever meeting between the two players will not go down as a classic - Nalbandian, especially, looked tired and there were few lengthy rallies.

But Tsonga always seemed in charge, his booming serve allowing him to win cheap points time after time.

He picked up the one and only break of serve in the first set in Nalbandian's opening service game, Tsonga wasting a first chance before the Argentinian carelessly double-faulted.

Tsonga only faced one break point in that set, in the seventh game, but he dealt with it comfortably and took the set at the third time of asking two games later.

Momentum

The second set saw the momentum swing, although Nalbandian had to save a break point in the opening game, doing so with a rare ace.

The next big moment in the match came in the eighth game, when Tsonga went 40-0 down on his own serve.

He saved all three break points, with his power serve again coming to the rescue with two aces sent down.

However, he was faced with the same scenario on his next service game and he could not repeat the feat, crashing an ugly forehand into the net to gift his opponent the set.

Nalbandian was still struggling to reach his true level, though, and he dropped his serve in the third game of the second set following a couple of loose groundstrokes.

With the crowd now at fever pitch, Tsonga reacted to going a break point down in the sixth game by firing down two aces on the trot as he moved to within two games of victory.

Spectacular

Similarly, when serving for the championship at 5-4, he went 0-40 down but thrilled the capacity crowd by winning five points on the spin and spark spectacular scenes in the French capital.

In claiming his second title of the year, Tsonga becomes the first French winner of the Bercy event since 2001, when Sebastien Grosjean picked up the title.

He will move into the world's top 10 tomorrow and with three other Les Bleus - Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils - in the top 20, it is a booming time for French tennis.