Composed, calm, mature, patient, casual, explosive, powerful, quick and just plain cool. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga displayed each and every one of these qualities on Rod Laver Arena in the Australian Open men’s semi-final. Oh, and he was opposing world No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who is famously fearsome and explosive himself.

And if that wasn't a big enough shock to the system, it was followed 24 hours later by an even bigger one. World No. 1 Roger Federer suffered one of the most devastating defeats of his career when he went down in straight sets to Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-3 7-6. That means a Djokovic v Tsonga final on Sunday.

Once Tsonga started ripping through his opponents in the early rounds and storming towards this match against Nadal, more than a few mouths were watering at what we just knew was going to be an awesome display of super athleticism and shot making. We also pretty much figured Nadal would do his usual number of grinding his opponent down into the court surface until he cried “no mas!” and conceded the match. Kinda didn’t happen that way.

'Tsonga showed an eye popping repertoire of shots that is reminiscent only of Roger Federer'


Tsonga showed an eye popping repertoire of shots that was reminiscent only of Federer at his best. The announcers pegged it as “speed, strategic genius and unbelievable power.” To wit, Tsonga possesses a huge serve, power off of the backhand as well as the forehand, a relentless attacking style, an excellent transition game, and what appears to be phenomenal touch at the net.

Maybe it was just because of Rafa’s reputation as one who plays too far behind the baseline on hard courts, but Tsonga consistently rushed the net not just to bang hard volley winners, but also to show off his touch with drop volleys. Nadal has never seen a drop shot that he couldn’t get to, but Tsonga hit some ridiculous drop volleys that Nadal couldn’t have reached in a taxi. Volleys that some guys would be lucky to hit once a match off a strong passing shot, but Tsonga hit them so often that it looked routine.

So Nadal had to figure he was playing a guy who was going to go for the winner early in the point. But, Tsonga also possesses remarkable patience that is rare for a big hitter. He was very willing to work the point with different speeds, spins and depth before he goes for the big shot. As a result, the shots he hit for winners were pretty high percentage. In short, his shot selection was sublime.

Tsonga hit very few routine errors, where he just blew a shot for no good reason. Most of them came from him being aggressive and moving forward. And at no time did they become an epidemic. He never had a bad patch or loss of concentration where he hit several errors in a row, costing him a game. He kept it together throughout the tournament to win not only the 6-2 sets, but the 7-5 and 7-6 sets as well.

For one so inexperienced in Grand Slam tournaments, Tsonga has kept his cool throughout. He has controlled his emotions almost superhumanly. Many, many times we observers see an underdog come out fired up for a big match and take a first set off of a top player and then the reality sets in and their games fall apart. Not so Tsonga. He left the court after winning both the first and second sets and came out ready to go. You know he’s got to be excited but he goes about his business very calmly. Until he chases down a Rafa drop shot from the other side of the court and hits a clean passing shot for a winner. Then Tsonga roars.

The nerves on Jo Wilfried Tsonga never wavered during his first grand slam semi-final. He only faced one moment of adversity, but he handled it with aplomb. At two sets up and 0-1 in the third, Tsonga faced his first three break points. On the third, he hit a big serve that was good and which Nadal hit into the net. The chair umpire called a fault, which was overturned on a Tsonga challenge. Unfortunately, Tsonga had to serve again and he had a brief discussion with the chair umpire about it. Instead of being rattled, Tsonga hits a clean ace. Then another to go up game point finally winning the game. Then casually breaks Rafa at 15 the very next game. The match was all but over at that point.

Tsonga kept up such a high level of confident intensity the whole night, that the only the only time he looked cowed was after he hit an ace on match point. His shoulders actually seemed to slump and he walked to the net at the foot-dragging speed that the loser usually assumes. He somberly shook the world’s second ranked player’s hand then the hand of the chair umpire. Only then did he whoop it up and jump around the court in celebration.

Then the best moment of all, he took his shirt off and threw it into the crowd letting us all see what great physical condition he’s in. Tsonga then replaced his black and white Adidas shirt with a muscle shirt which seemed a bit like the changing of the guards. Rafa is famous for his muscle shirts showing off his guns, but Rafa was gone and Tsonga, for that moment assumed the title of muscle shirt king.

To go along with his title of Grand Slam finalist. Is Jo Wilfried Tsonga ready to assume the mantle of major rival to Federer and Nadal in thne world rankings? We may well find out Sunday. Shhh, the players are ready.

TWICE BITTEN
For two years in a row at the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal has been the victim of an opponent playing in a stratosphere they’d never reached before. Fernando Gonzalez took out Rafa in straight sets in 2007 and so too did Tsonga to lead off 2008. Allez Tsonga!