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1/26/08 11:03 AM | Ricky Dimon
Giant-killers Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will meet on Sunday night in Rod Laver Arena to battle for the 2008 Australian Open title. While fans were surely expecting a Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal showdown, instead they will be treated to two players who are as hot as the Melbourne summer sun.
Hot? More like positively on fire. The third-seeded Djokovic has not lost a single set throughout his run to the final. He’s taken out Benjamin Becker, Simone Bolelli, Sam Querrey, 19th-seeded Lleyton Hewitt, and fifth-seeded David Ferrer. And all of that was just the appetizer. On Friday night Djokovic served up the main course with a stunning straight-set knockout of top-ranked Roger Federer. The Serb outplayed Federer in all facets of the game en route to 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(5) victory.
Tsonga has been no less impressive. The unseeded Frenchman has already pulled off four headline-stealing upsets on his way to becoming the most recent addition to a long line of historical Australian Open surprises. After sending ninth-seeded Andy Murray on his way home in the first round, Tsonga routed Sam Warburg and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez before resuming his trek on the upset trail. He then manhandled fellow Frenchman and eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet in four sets and wiped out fourteenth-seeded Mikhail Youzhny in three quick ones. Like Djokovic, as impressive as the first five wins were, Tsonga saved his best for last. In a dizzying display of power, touch, and downright out-of-his-mind tennis, he destroyed Rafael Nadal in the Thursday night semifinal 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. The second seed did not even play poorly, as he hit 13 winners to just a miniscule 12 unforced errors, but he was no match for Tsonga, who blasted 49 winners in just three short sets.
Djokovic will be taking part in his second—and second consecutive—Grand Slam final. The Serb finished runner-up to Federer at last year’s U.S. Open. Tsonga has never experienced anything close to what the atmosphere will be like on Sunday. Not only is this his first Grand Slam final (it was also his first Grand Slam quarterfinal and semifinal), but this is his first final in any ATP Tour level event. While the pressure will be immense, if Tsonga’s previous six matches are any indication, the 22-year-old should have little to no problem with nerves.
He’ll have to do a lot more than overcome nerves in this first-ever head-to-head meeting between the two finalists. Just as he did against Nadal in the semis, Tsonga will have to bring a wide variety of play to the table when he faces Djokovic. His opponent has been completely teeing off on the ball from the baseline throughout the fortnight and Djokovic has just finished overwhelming baseline grinder David Ferrer and world No. 1 Roger Federer in groundstroke battles. Even if Tsonga’s forehand is on like it was against Nadal, the Frenchman will still have to follow his shots into the net in order to shorten points, eliminate grueling rallies from the backcourt, and keep Djokovic off balance. As he showed us in the semifinals, Tsonga’s deft net game is far too good to waste.
The odds are with Djokovic simply because he has been on this stage before and he also has unparalleled confidence from having just dominated the best player in the world. But with the way things are going for this Tsonga kid right now, the outcome could not be further from a foregone conclusion.
Only one thing is certain. If Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga play at level they’ve somehow managed to sustain this whole tournament, it will be an Australian Open final to remember forever.
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Did you know that... Jimmy Connors holds the record for most single tournament wins, he has 109 titles.
kaitepai, Dec 2, 2008 9:14 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 6:28 PM
RickyDimon, Dec 2, 2008 5:57 PM
tennisgirl, Dec 1, 2008 11:48 PM
lendl, Dec 1, 2008 6:17 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:23 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 8:02 PM
Casper, Dec 2, 2008 7:27 PM
Novak Djokovic
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Australian Open
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