Tennis hot property Novak Djokovic broke through for his first
Grand Slam triumph with a dramatic four-set victory over unseeded
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open yesterday.
The 20-year-old third seed became the first Serb to win a tennis
Grand Slam, coming from behind to register a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
victory over the tournament bolter in three hours, six minutes.
His victory was the first Grand Slam final since the 2005
Australian Open not won by Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal with the
top-ranked pair dominating the game, claiming the last 11 majors
between them.
"I am so proud of myself and to be the first Serbian who won the
Grand Slam title," said Djokovic, who eclipsed Jim Courier as the
youngest men's winner at Melbourne Park.
"I expected Jo to play pretty aggressively, he was going for his
shots, he had nothing to lose and he had an amazing success in
these two weeks, he was very dangerous.
"I was trying to stay there with him because I knew that sooner
or later with my style of the game I could get in control of the
match, which I did in the middle of the second set.
"This match was really important for me. I was the favorite and
I knew that virtually everybody expected me to win, so anything
except a win would have been a bit of a loss."
Djokovic and Tsonga rocked the established order by dumping
Federer and Nadal out in the semifinals to set up a decider
unimaginable at the start of the tournament.
The Serb went on to claim his first major title in his 13th
Grand Slam after losing to Federer in last year's US Open
final.
The victory stretched his winning streak to 11 matches, beating
his previous best unbeaten run.
Tsonga, bidding to become France's first Grand Slam winner in 25
years, started well and took the only set off Djokovic in the
tournament but could not go the distance.
"I thank Novak for a good fight and for me it was a good moment.
I'll be back," said the Muhammad Ali look-alike, who blasted Nadal
out of the tournament in straight sets.
But he could not reproduce his blistering semifinal form on
Sunday, although he still played well with his winners outnumbering
his errors.
Djokovic appeared to tweak his left hamstring in stretching for
a volley at 0-30 on Tsonga's service in the fourth game of the
fourth set and sought treatment from the trainer at the next
changeover.
But he held on to take the championship in the fourth-set
tiebreaker.
"I knew the soreness was getting me in the hamstring so I had
trainer give me a little massage," Djokovic said.
"I was trying just to maintain my consistency, to play at a high
level and just be focused, not be nervous and that's why I was
pretty successful in the tiebreak."
Djokovic remains at No 3 in rankings behind Federer and Nadal,
but Tsonga is projected to climb to 18 from 38.
Both players exchanged service breaks in the opening two games
but the young Serb came under pressure toward the end of the
opening set.
Tsonga pulled off a terrific forehand winner from a Djokovic
smash to bring up set point and then a desperate lob volley just
floated inside the baseline to break the Serb and take the set in
49 minutes of tense tennis.
Djokovic picked up his game in the second, grabbing the crucial
break in the seventh game when Tsonga's forehand was wide.
He served out to level the final with three set points in the
10th.
Djokovic then took command, breaking the Frenchman in the third
and ninth games of the third set.
Djokovic dominated the crucial tiebreaker to take the
championship on the first of his four match points.
(Agencies via China Daily January 28, 2008)