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1/28/08 9:24 AM | Ricky Dimon
Novak Djokovic captures his first Grand Slam title on Sunday night at the Australian Open, defeating surprise finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets.
Third-seeded Novak Djokovic capped off an impressive fortnight in style on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia. The 20-year-old Serb emerged from a hard-fought battle against unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2) victory to win the first Grand Slam title of his career at the 2008 Australian Open.
It wasn’t the Federer-Nadal final that many tennis fans were eagerly anticipating, but this matchup had plenty of sizzle thanks to the brilliant play of both Djokovic and Tsonga leading up to the championship match. Djokovic had not lost a single set prior to Sunday despite having faced formidable foes Lleyton Hewitt, David Ferrer, and one Roger Federer in consecutive matches starting in the fourth round. The underdog Tsonga, meanwhile, pulled off four huge upsets during his memorable Cinderella run to the final. He took out ninth-seeded Andy Murray in the first round, eight-seeded Richard Gasquet in the fourth, fourteenth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny in the quarters, and second-seeded Rafael Nadal in the semis.
While neither Djokovic nor Tsonga could sustain the same level of play in the face of Grand Slam final pressure, the two contestants still managed to thrill the Rod Laver Arena faithful. It was a high-quality match to be sure. It simply was not quite as mind-boggling as their previous performances.
At the beginning, however, it looked like Tsonga would once again be up to his old tricks. The crowd favorite dropped serve in the opening game of the match but promptly got the crowd into the match by breaking Djokovic right back. Almost the entire arena other than Djokovic’s box was rooting vociferously for Tsonga, and that resulted in some alleged heckling of the Serb’s camp which seemed to cause problems throughout the first set. The break of serve and the situation in the stands left the Serb flustered at the same time energizing Tsonga, who served at a 68-percent clip in the first set and was never threatened again in the first set on his service games. But it was with his return that the 22-year-old Frenchman did the most damage in the opening stages of the match. Just as he had done throughout the tournament, Tsonga took control of points early and completely dictated play. Whenever Djokovic failed to put in his first serve, Tsonga would jump all over the second offering and that aggressive strategy worked to perfection as he took 10 of his opponent’s 14 second-serve points in the first set. That led to one more break for Tsonga and one more break was all he needed. The set culminated with Tsonga hitting a stunning one-the-run topspin forehand lob that sailed over a hapless Djokovic’s head and bounced just inside the baseline.
Unlike Nadal before him, Djokovic was not about to get wiped off the court in three quick sets. Although his serve almost completely fell apart in the second set (he put in less than half of his first balls), the rest of Djokovic’s game picked up considerably. He began to take control of the baseline rallies and having made more unforced errors than winners in the first set, Djokovic struck 10 winners to just five errors in the second.
Djokovic really started to deliver what looked like a knockout blow in the third set. He put in 70 percent of his first serves, won thirteen of his fourteen first serve points, and only lost a total of four points on serve the entire set. The Serb also did to Tsonga what Tsonga had done to him in the first set. Djokovic took an impressive seven of 13 (54 percent) points on the Frenchman’s second serve. He broke twice in the third set, converting two of ten break point chances, whereas Tsonga did not see one single break opportunity against Djokovic’s serve in the third frame of play.
With Djokovic on a roll and Tsonga looking like his thrilling two-week journey through the Australian Open had finally taken its toll on him both mentally and physically, the fourth set seemed like a foregone conclusion. But just as Tsonga found new life in putting forth one last effort to get back in the match, Djokovic suffered a minor hamstring strain. Thanks in part to his opponent’s hindered movement but mainly to his own booming serve, Tsonga was never threatened on serve in the fourth set. The reeling Djokovic, however, struggled in his service games and had to come up with several pressure-packed shots in order to keep up the pace in the fourth set. Never was that the case more than at 5-5 and Djokovic serving. Down break point, the Serb tried an ill-advised drop-shit which Tsonga retrieved easily and prepared to launch a game-winning forehand. Djokovic, however, guessed Tsonga would go down the line and when Tsonga did just that, Djokovic blocked a backhand volley into the open court for a winner. He then won the next two points to force the decisive fourth-set tiebreaker.
Both players were back on top of their games at this point, so Djokovic’s dominance in the tiebreaker can only be attributed to his experience of having been deep in Grand Slams before, including the final of the U.S. Open in 2007. For Tsonga, who had never been past the fourth round of any Grand Slam event prior to this Australian Open, it was not overly surprising that his nerves finally showed. Yes, the newcomer who had stolen the heats of the Melbourne faithful was human after all.
When Tsonga sprayed one last forehand wide, Djokovic took the tiebreaker 7-2 to win his first Grand Slam title.
To both players, for the quality of this match, their shockingly high level of play throughout the tournament, and for the way they handled themselves in the trophy ceremony
The 2008 Australian Open, which has to go down as one of the most thrilling Grand Slams in recent memory, is finally over
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Did you know that... Michael Chang is the youngest Grand Slam champion in tennis history. He was 17 years and 3 months old when he won the French Open in 1989.
Avalaine, Dec 4, 2008 4:32 AM
ravikiran, Dec 4, 2008 3:49 AM
kaitepai, Dec 3, 2008 10:59 PM
kaitepai, Dec 3, 2008 10:02 PM
janhavi, Dec 3, 2008 2:51 PM
Avalaine, Dec 3, 2008 10:15 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:23 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:02 PM
Novak Djokovic
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Australian Open
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