Djoker pulls off a thriller against Tsonga

Novak Djokovic went into this match as the favourite. Playing on clay, admittedly not his best surface, especially having lost twice to Nadal this year in clay finals, Djokovic was still considered far superior to the burly Frenchman, Tsonga. What he met with though was not something that he could be predicted.

He began the first set in immaculate fashion, picking out corners with ease. Power and precision combined to remind viewers and the French Open crowd why he is the numero uno player in the circuit. Oddly silent when Djokovic unleashed winner after winner, the crowd managed to work their way into his head after cheering and spurring Tsonga on. Three sets later, he was two sets down, making unforced errors that he normally would have. He was clearly frustrated on court, yelling out at his smallest mistake. His serve was being picked easily than he would have liked and Tsonga was hitting enough winners to disguise his unforced errors. The same unforced errors he dished out against Seppi were on display once again. The game descended into a question of whether Djokovic could hold on and for how long.

Djokovic erred frequently, especially at the net and failed to find many winners after a brilliant first set. In the first set, the Djokovic of 2011 was on display – placing the ball exactly where he wanted, blasting Tsonga away in a 6-1 rout. By the fourth set, a clearly knackered Djokovic was yelling out at himself and the fact that he was upset was all but too evident. He had taken quite a liking to winning and being on the wrong side of the score did not please him much. To top it off, Tsonga got his points when it mattered and managed to save the Serb’s break points by belting out aces at crucial moments.

The end of the fourth set saw Djokovic battle to stay in the match. His iron will and determination were on display as he went neck and neck with Tsonga till 4-4. Djokovic then saved two match points at 5-4. With Tsonga easing to another game and leading 6-5, Novak had to hold his serve to stay in the match. At deuce, the Serb conceded a 3rd match point to huge cheers from the crowd. However, known for his dogged ability to stay in matches even when he looks down and out, Djokovic upset the crowd and took the set to the tiebreak. Tsonga helped Djokovic out with a few unforced errors, but you have to credit the Djoker’s ability to handle the pressure so well that his opponents get undermined. The world no. 1 found enough in his tank to push Tsonga to a fifth set to decide this quarterfinal.

With Nole serving first in the final set, he looked at ease and a completely different player to the one we saw during most of the match. His ability to handle the pressure and keep his shots under control had swung the momentum in his favour. Starting off the set in dominant fashion, he looked to be cruising when he broke Tsonga early. Letting the rallies run long, as he likes them, Djokovic cooly smothered Tsonga’s serves and broke once more to serve for the match. Djokovic’s frustrated exclamations were turning into fist pumps of victory. Two glorious serves and on his first match point, he closed out the game the way he had started – with a 6-1 win. The roar that emanated while Tsonga was left watching the ball go past him was a good recap of the match. Tsonga finally did, but Djokovic simply never gave up.

Overall, Djokovic found himself taken apart by Jo Wilfried Tsonga on net points – winning only 21/36, especially when faced with some exquisite drop shots. Also, the crowd seemed to have played tricks with his game. If ‘the Djoker’ wants to win the only Grand Slam that has evaded him so far, he cannot rely on Tsonga-like unforced errors from Federer, and definitely not from the king of clay, Rafael Nadal.