Former Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has defeated an ill Novak Djokovic in five sets at Rod Laver Arena, falling behind two sets to one before recovering to win in the early hours of Thursday morning.
In a re-match of the Australian Open 2008 final – which Djokovic won in four sets – Tsonga recovered from a disastrous third set before gaining confidence against his increasingly ragged opponent, triumphing in five sets for the second match in a row by a scoreline of 7-6(8) 6-7(5) 1-6 6-3 6-1.
Speaking on court after the match, Tsonga said that he felt like he could keep going. “I think I was just in a good form, I might be better than him (in the end). He played unbelievable in three first sets, he was amazing. Finally I won, and I am happy with that.”
Djokovic began promisingly, holding serve and gaining an immediate break to skip to a 2-0 lead. But Tsonga immediately broke back to get the match back on even terms.
The contest was of a high quality from the beginning, with Djokovic showcasing his impeccable technique and the Frenchman exciting the crowd with his dashing brand of high-risk tennis. The Serbian played a little more consistently and was rewarded with his second break of the match on his way to a 5-2 lead.
An enthralling ninth game saw Djokovic save a break point and then hold a set point; on the subsequent 32-stroke rally, Djokovic failed to find the court with an attempted lob. Tsonga broke back on his second attempt and then held serve to level at 5-5.
The set progressed to a tie-break, and Tsonga, looking far more comfortable, recovered from losing four straight points to gain a set point when up 6-5. A forehand error allowed Djokovic to level scores, and Tsonga complained to chair umpire John Blom about excessive noise from the crowd during points.
Shrugging off the distraction, the Frenchman saved a set point when down 6-7 and blew another set point of his own before finally taking the tiebreak 10-8 and a one-set lead after 67 minutes on court.
Games went on serve early in the second set until the Serbian gained the first break in the fifth game amid more complaints by Tsonga about noise in the crowd. Consolidating the break and moving ahead 0-30 on Tsonga’s serve, Djokovic could not break again, with the Frenchman holding serve and breaking back to level the set at 4-4.
The set progressed on serve until the players found themselves locked in another tie-break battle. This time, it was the world No. 3 who came out on top.
Three consecutive errors saw Tsonga fall behind 0-3, but he rallied to level scores and was gifted a narrow lead after Djokovic threw in an untimely double fault. Djokovic leveled scores by scampering to retrieve a drop shot and flicking it for a winner, and was lucky to gain set point when the No. 10 seed missed an easy passing shot. Djokovic evened the match at a set apiece when Tsonga erred on a venomous forehand.
From there, it was one-way traffic. Djokovic scored breaks in the fourth and sixth games on his way to claiming the third set 6-1 in 37 minutes. The Serbian’s impeccable statistics included 11 winners, three unforced errors and winning 90 per cent of points at the net.
But in a strange twist of events, Djokovic dropped serve in the second game of the fourth set to go down 0-2 before leaving the court for a medical timeout, apparently suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. Returning to court a few minutes later, he dropped serve again in the fourth game, and Tsonga was soon out to a 5-0 lead.
Tsonga said that he knew Djokovic was sick but he didn’t know exactly what was wrong, because the chair umpire would not tell him what was happening. “I have a lot of sympathy with him ... he is a good player, he is funny, I have to applaud for him,” the Frenchmen said.
The Serbian, seemingly now unaffected by his ailments, clawed his way back with a service break in the seventh game thanks to some powerful forehands that Tsonga couldn’t control, and followed this up with a service hold.
Serving at 5-3, Tsonga played a steady game, quickly moving ahead 40-15 and leveling the match when Djokovic netted a backhand passing shot.
With the match moving beyond midnight, Tsonga seemed intent to wrap up proceedings as quickly as possible, breaking immediately and consolidating on serve for a 2-0 lead in the fifth set. He even had two break points for a commanding 3-0 lead before Djokovic ultimately held to get on the board, but this merely delayed the inevitable.
Tsonga recovered from 0-30 down with some powerful shotmaking and serving to move ahead 3-1, and broke to love in the next game when Djokovic dished up a meek double fault. The Frenchman held serve in the sixth game to lead 5-1, and brought up match point with a stinging forehand passing shot.
Tsonga closed it out on his first attempt after three hours and 52 minutes on court when he forced an error off the Serbian’s racquet at the net.
Tsonga will take on world No. 1 Roger Federer in the semi-finals after the Swiss champion ousted No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko in four sets earlier on Wednesday. Tsonga said he was hoping to use the crowd’s energy to assist him during the daunting assignment.
“Yeah, I will be ready, I hope you (the crowd) will cheer for me a bit,” he joked.
“It’s going to be tough, because he’s the best player ever.”
Fast facts
- Tsonga won 158 points to Djokovic’s 155.
- Both players tallied 55 unforced errors.
- Tsonga served 19 aces to Djokovic’s two.
- The Frenchman converted on eight of 12 break point chances, while Djokovic was successful with six of 16 break point opportunities.
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