Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga in Title Fight
Date: 2008-07-17 18:10:49
Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,231...
Submitted By: Fight Videos
THE man they call Ali skipped on to Rod Laver Arena with the strut of his namesake. His opponent, eyes bulging, let out a primeval scream and thumped his chest after securing a significant point. No wonder Melbourne Park resounded to roars and applause that evoked memories of the days when world boxing champs Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu plied their brutal art to similarly whipped-up, frenzied fans in the same stadium. Prime ministers, pop icons (Sting dropped in for a look), supermodels (a black-clad Jennifer Hawkins caused heads to swivel by merely strolling down the aisle to a front-row seat), actors, business heavyweights -- yes, this was the biggest ticket item in town, and the fans were on the edge of their $250 flip-up seats. The only difference was Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Serbian Novak Djokovic traded thunderous serves and scorching groundstrokes to try to bludgeon each other into submission as they fought for their first grand slam singles title. Tsonga, who bears a remarkable resemblance to a young Muhammad Ali, had his own version of the shuffle when he danced through the entrance after courtside announcer Craig Willis summoned him. Djokovic, in contrast, acknowledged the fans with a cursory wave, saving his best emotional work for the crucial points of the duel. He then spun to the competitor's box containing his parents and younger brothers to distort his face into a fearful grimace and pound his right fist into his heart region. Rarely has a tennis match prompted such a noisy response from the sellout crowd of 15,000 fans, no doubt accentuated by pockets of face-painted French and flag-draped Serbs urging on their man. In typical Aussie style, the crowd leaned towards underdog Tsonga and the feel-good story of his march to the final, a no-name barely out of the game's second-tier Challenger circuit bidding to become Australian Open champion. And Tsonga gave them a wild ride as he proved more than a match for Djokovic's backcourt precision and power. It was so tense in the opening set, you'd swear Portuguese chair umpire Carlos Ramos purposely left open his microphone when he replied "very close" to a Djokovic query to a line call in the sixth game. The crowd laughed, even the Serb saw the funny side of it, and everyone seemed to remember this was nothing more serious than a fight for a notation in sporting history. Thankfully, the retractable roof was rolled right back, such was the roar when Tsonga flipped a lob over the advancing Djokovic to grab the opening set in 50 minutes. When time ticked over to one hour, the combatants had completed only 13 games. Tsonga reckoned much of the laborious scoreline was Djokovic's fault as he complained several times to Ramos about the Serb's incessant bounces before winding up to serve. At 3-3 in the second set, Djokovic slid a brilliant winner past Tsonga after an almost self-preserving reflex backhand return fending off a 213km/h missile. And when Tsonga pushed a forehand wide to give up the critical service break, the world No. 3 pounced to seal the second set. The match was deadlocked after 89 minutes, just two short of the effort Maria Sharapova required the previous day to secure the women's singles title and the same $1,370,000 winner's cheque. Even after Djokovic cut down the errors to roll through the third set, you sensed there was still drama to be wrung from this enthralling contest. Cramps became a concern for the Djokovic camp after the Serb received a courtside massage to the back of his left thigh at a change of ends early in the fourth set. He didn't need a fifth set. He slid on to his back in a mix of elation and relief after running through the tiebreak, before rising to embrace Tsonga across the net.
