Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Bows In Solid Fashion
Exuberant. Unrelenting. Defeated but determined. France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finally falls to fourth-seeded Andy Murray in the semi finals of the Wimbledon Open. It took the latter two hours and 49 minutes to dispose of the determined Frenchman via scores 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Tsonga has received lots of praise despite the loss to Murray, having stretched the world no.4 to the limit.
The Frenchman made a good account of himself, matching the Scottish tennis player blow for blow on serves in the early stages of the opening set. The players were so evenly matched that in one instance, Murray had a break point at 4-4 but missed it and in the next game Tsonga also failed with a set point.
Moving on to a tie-break, Murray began well with a mini-break of serve—but Tsonga was undeterred. The Frenchman charged in for the kill. Boom. Tsonga clinches the first set to the dismay of the Murray supporters.
Tsonga had exerted so much energy in the first set. And it proved successful for a while.
But after the brutal first set, fatigue started to creep in. In spite of being labelled as one of the most powerful players on the tournament, Tsonga’s energy level was stymied by the brilliant Scot. As Murray stepped up the pressure, Tsonga began to make errors courtesy of some Murray side-to-side plays.
But to the surprise of many, the Frenchman refused to give up. Showing that he still had plenty of fight left in him, Tsonga pulled level at 3-3. Another tie-break loomed ominously for both players.
Turning the tables around, Tsonga went 5-4 up with serves to come. But that would be the last of Tsonga’s rallies.
In a match-changing moment, a couple of Tsonga serves were dealt with, the second on a fluke when Tsonga allowed a Murray service return fall in.
Tsonga committed another error, thereby gifting the Scot with a tie-break. Murray did not disappoint.
The distress signal was on for the Frenchman. And just when he was about to succumb, Tsonga made another effort, stretching Murray once again.
In the longest game of the match, almost nine minutes, Murray finally took control and went ahead. Now down 5-1, the Frenchman gave one last flourish of fireworks to the delight of the crowd.
Beaten but proud, the extrovert Tsonga congratulated his conqueror then exited to a standing ovation. It was one h**l of a show from the Frenchman and the Scot.
The Wimbledon tale of Tsonga was indeed impressive. Perhaps, his performance in the tournament equalled his performance back in 2008 when he reached the final of the Australian Open, despite being unseeded. En route to the final, Tsonga felled four seeded players, including a straight sets win over the then world no.2 Rafael Nadal in the semi finals.
Despite bowing to Novak Djokovic in the final in four sets, Tsonga still managed to take a glitch on Djokovic’s parade by handing him a lone losing set in the tournament.
After his loss to Murray, Tsonga can find comfort from the fact that his powerful, precise serves, as well as heavy forehands can always spell trouble for the world’s best players.
His offensive baseline style of play is always a danger, whether your name is Nadal, Murray, or even Federer.
Despite bowing out of competition, Tsonga has showed the world that he is a force to be reckoned with.
Tsonga will remain as a top-10 player and only needs a little bit of inspiration to barge into the threshold of elites.The road would certainly be tough for Tsonga, but if he pours a lot into it, success is also inevitable.
Without any argument, a toast is in order for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga!
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