Since beating Tsonga at the Australian Open, Djokovic has been beaten 3 times by the 23 year old. Tsonga is the second seed behind Djokovic in Brisbane and he believes that if his serve is working, he can win the match.

Regarding his serve, Tsonga said, “It is enough. Because you can usually break (your opponent) with a little bit of luck, and then you serve and you serve and you serve."

Reaching the final at the Australian Open was not enough for the Frenchman.

"For me, it was very difficult to lose the final to Novak," he said. "So it’s given me a lot of motivation for the rest of the year and now I hope I will win against him the next time. I’m confident (of winning the Australian Open) because I’ve had a very good preparation.

"It’s a new opportunity to play another final or win a tournament."

Do you think he can do it?

Source: Google News

Image Credit: Bauer Griffin

Post from: EveryJoe

Tsonga Says He Can Dominate Djokovic in Brisbane

You gotta start at the top: Roger Federer. He’s had a rough first half to 2008. He was destroyed by world number two Rafael Nadal. He’s been suffering from illnesses. But the guy has the grass record to make that all disappear…for now anyway. It’s kind of like the innocent until proven guilty thing. This grass court season is pivotal for Roger. Absolutely crucial. If he can pull it together…well…he needs to pull it together, and if he’s going to, this is where it will be. Asking if he has a shot at winning Wimbledon is like asking of a fish likes water. The man has won five consecutive titles at Wimbly – he’s going to show up to play, folks.

Now. With the contemporary grass court legend duly noted, let’s talk about the guy who’s always in his head: Rafa. The most recent meeting between the two is burned into any true tennis fan’s memory. Nadal is playing top-notch tennis. He was overwhelming during the clay court season, and if the Spaniard keeps up that intensity, he will be a force to be reckoned with on grass.

I think Novak Djokovic still struggles with his mental game at times. I’m not his biggest fan (I’m not sure why, really…). He game is good – obviously. He’s got a great repertoire of weapons to draw on, and I think he can do good things on grass. Will he win Wimbledon? No. Why? Because if Rafa doesn’t get him, Roger will.

Other than the big three, I’m really looking forward to seeing what John Isner can do on grass. He’s giantly tall, has a huge serve and can really take it to some of the top players.

I want to see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga healthy again, and I want to see him play on grass while he’s at the peak of his game. Will it happen? Who knows. He’s a streaker – sometimes he’s on and sometimes he’s not.

And who knows – maybe somebody new will pop up out of the woodwork and we’ll have a new star.

Post from: EveryJoe

Men’s Tennis: Grass Court Preview

Due to a knee injury, Tsonga has pulled out before play starts at Roland Garros tomorrow. He also has surgery scheduled for Tuesday to repair the meniscus in his knee. (The article said it was “broken” but meniscus is cartilage in the knee…the proper term would be “torn”…but whatever, it’s just the details, right?)

I’m a little sad Tsonga won’t be in the field – the guy is fun to watch. But I’m glad he’s taking care of his body…it’s kind of his main tool in his profession.

(Image: Newscom)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gets worked up against Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells earlier this season.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tsonga Out of French Open

Tsonga will be replaced with Arnaud Clement – whoever that is. Richard Gasquet, Paul Henri-Mathieu and Michael Llodra. And the United States will be represented by the Fixed Four – Andy Roddick, James Blake and Bob and Mike Bryan.

Otherwise, not a whole lot is happening in the tennis world. I mean – Venus withdrew from the Family Circle Cup because of illness and Lindsay Davenport is rolling at Amelia Island – but what’s new about that?

Post from: EveryJoe

Tsonga Out of Davis Cup with Injury

Why yes, yes it is. I’ve seen Rafa play a lot. He’s been around for quite awhile, but he found a different gear today. It was amazing. He was down a break, and Tsonga was serving for the match at 5-2. Tsonga should have won it, but Nadal wouldn’t go away. The lame-o announcer did make one good comment and that was how “Nadal won it with his feet and his heart.” It was…good.

Wow…apparently I’m being very Rah-Rah Rafa today.

Okay, I’m done blithering now. In other, less interesting news, David Nalbandian is still in the hunt after defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-2. Has Bandi lost that extra weight yet? The guy can be a formidable force. Can be the words to key on there.

Post from: EveryJoe

Rafa digs in for victory over Tsonga

- I gotta start with my boy blue: Andy Roddick. The guy finally did something I could be proud of since winning the U.S. Open in…yeah, it’s been so long I don’t remember…2003. Roddick won the Dubai Open and did so by working his way through Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

- Speaking of Djokovic, he deserves a place here too. He won the Australian Open. He beat the King when the King still held that title with such ease. Maybe he bobbled against Roddick but darn it, if he just wasn’t the little Serbian who could.

- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga brought some emotion back into tennis and for that, he gets a nomi here for top of the crop. Tsonga worked Nadal, I mean worked him, in the Aussie Open. Tsonga also beat Andy Murray in the first round and a host of other folks en route to losing in the final. But Tsonga had an energy and a level of enthusiasm that seems to be missing from a lot of the others. I like that. It earned him his vote.

- To get away from the rather manly selection I’ve got going so far, how about…hmm…horse nuts, I’m going to have to pick Maria Sharapova, aren’t I? I’m no hypocrite. There isn’t a thing I like about her but she earns her spot here because of what she did Down Under. She mopped the floor with Justine Henin. That’s not easy to do even though the world No. 1 is only, what, 5-feet 6-inches and Sharapova is the blond equivelant of the Jolly Green Giant.

- As if being in her 30s wasn’t enough, Lindsay Davenport made her comeback toting a drooling baby and a diaper bag. That’s some determination, folks. And she’s being successful. She won a tourney in Miami. She did well in the Fed Cup. I’m not the type to go ga-ga over some cooing baby, but I’m giving props to Davenport for simultaneously making it work on the WTA tour and being Wonder Mommy.

- Hmm. I’m feeling like things need to be balanced for this quarter’s edition of top of the crop. Therefore we need another tennis skirt on here. Thinking. Still thinking. The brain is starting to hurt because it has to work hard. Well – if it isn’t that country of Serbia again! Ana Ivanovic. Or should I pick Jelena Jankovic? They’re both playing well. Ivanovic got to the finals in the land of the Aussies. Jankovic never goes away. I think they tie here because neither has done enough to sway me into believing they earn a whole section on the top of the crop.

Notice I didn’t give a spot to either of the world No. 1s. It’s not that they don’t deserve it…it’s just that they don’t deserve it. Next quarter we’ll do another top of the crop to see who has their tennis balls lined up and who needs to whip ‘em into shape.

Post from: EveryJoe

Top of the Crop

After the Australian Open, the men’s tennis rankings aren’t too shook up except for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s 20-place move to No. 18 in the world. Roger Federer still owns the top spot with 6630 points and Rafael Nadal still sits in second with 5980. Novak Djokovic solidified his hold on the No. 3 slot with 5165 points. After that, talking points is directionless discussion. No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko has 2725 points. He – and the rest of the ranked tennis crew – won’t be challenging the top three for awhile.

Mikhail Youzhny and James Blake each jumped six spots to eighth and ninth, respectively. Andy Murray dropped out of the top 10 to No. 12 and Fernando Gonzalez got drop-kicked out of the top 10 to No. 24.

In the men’s top 20, a quarter of them are representing Spain: No. 2 Nadal, No. 5 David Ferrer, No. 15 Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 16 Carlos Moya and No. 17 Tommy Robredo. Interesting.

Justine Henin still has about a 2500 point lead in the women’s tennis rankings. Ana Ivanovic moved into the No. 2 spot with 4126 and Svetlana Kuznetsova dropped to third in the world. Maria Sharapova still trails No. 4 Jelena Jankovic by 450 points to keep her No. 5 ranking.

The rest of the women’s rankings really weren’t shook up to much. Venus Williams bumped up two spots to sixth and Serena fell to 10th in the world but as far as earth-shattering 20-place jumpers, it was a no-go on the women’s side.

Post from: EveryJoe

The World Tennis Rankings

10. No Americans at the Australian Open past the quarterfinals.
I should take that back. There was one American who lost in the semifinals and that was Ryan Harrison in the boys’ singles. The boys’ singles! Otherwise, James Blake lost to Roger Federer in the quarters and both Serena and Venus Williams gave the queen wave on the women’s side as they bowed out. Forget Andy Roddick – he left in the third round after ending up on the losing end of a five-setter against Philipp Kohlschreiber.

9. Federer’s five-set “epic” against Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.
This match see-sawed back and forth with Federer losing the first and third sets before finally taking the fifth set at 10-8 to survive Tipsarevic’s onslaught. Roger chalked up 64 unforced errors to Tipsarevic’s 47 but smacked 96 winners to Tipsarevic’s 52. Another interesting note in this almost upset? Roger’s break point conversion: 5 of 21.

8. Three Serbians in the semi-finals, two in the finals.
When you think of a powerhouse tennis country, you don’t think of Serbia. I don’t anyway. Or I didn’t. But after Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic made their respective runs to the semis and the finals, knocking off the Williams sisters among a host of other competition, it’s hard to not think of Serbia when you think about professional tennis. That’s not even mentioning Novak Djokovic’s outstanding play to win the whole bag of tricks as well as Serbian Nenad Zimonjic title win in mixed doubles with Tiantian Sun of China.

7. Maria Sharapova’s efficient eradication of world No. 1 Justine Henin.
If you were sitting in Sharapova’s box, it was a thing of beauty. If you were backing Henin, you glanced toward the sky and wondered when the merciful ending would come. Sharapova’s 6-4, 6-0 rolling of Henin is something the world No. 1 probably wants to erase. Dropping a set at love in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam isn’t a thing someone like Henin does, but it’ll happen when you only hit 11 winners.

6. Rafael Nadal bows out of Aussie-land at the hand of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
If we were on a volleyball court, Rafa would be known as a defensive specialist. Sadly enough, the world No. 2 didn’t have any defensive answers for unseeded Tsonga’s powerful forehands. The first time the Spaniard made an appearance in the semi-finals at Melbourne wasn’t a happy one as he was humbled dutifuly to the tune of a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 whipping by the charismatic Tsonga.

5. Djokovic holds the winning hand against the King, ousting Federer from the tournament.
This one was a big deal. People are going to remember the supposed dethroning of the tennis king for quite awhile. Djokovic had the bigger game when he stopped Federer’s quest for another slam trophy, beating him 7-5, 6-3, 7-6. Note the straight sets – also kind of an important point. I struggled with moving this moment higher but – the ultimate point is that winning a Grand Slam trophy trumps a Federer loss.

4. The Bondarenko sisters of Ukraine win the women’s doubles trophy.
The unseeded Ukrainian sisters – Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko – won their first major title after beating the 12th seeds 2-6, 6-1, 6-4. En route to the victory, the sisters beat the No. 1 seeds, eighth seeds and 10th seeds before taking out their finals opponents Victoria Azarenka and Shahar Peer. The Bondarenkos were the first pair of sisters to win the Australian Open since the Williams sisters did so in 2003.

3. The Israeli duo earns the trophy in men’s doubles.
Eighth-seeded Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich won the Australian Open men’s doubles title. It was the first Grand Slam championship for the pair and the first time in Israel’s history that an all-Israeli doubles team has won the cup. The pair waded through the sixth, seventh and ninth seeds to earn the victory.

2. Sharapova hoists the trophy in her first Australian Open title win.
Russian Maria Sharapova picked up her third big title in style – she didn’t drop a set the entire tournament. A fluff draw? Not hardly. As mentioned above, Sharapova took out Henin in the quarters. Prior to that, Sharapova dispatched a gritty Lindsay Davenport and No. 11 seed Elena Dementieva. After knocking out the No. 3 and 4 seeded Serbian hopefuls in the semifinals and finals, Sharapova’s game didn’t lack much of anything. However – her father, Yuri Sharapov, sitting in the stands with that camouflage Uni-bomber presence? Creepy.

1. Djokovic wins first Grand Slam title with victory over Tsonga.
It wasn’t the final everyone had expected – what with the unseeded J-Dub Tsonga ousting No. 9 Andy Murray in the first round to start a wild fray of dropping top-seeded players from the ranks of the Australian Open hopefuls and Djokovic terminating Federer’s run. But it was a final and Djokovic walked away with the first Grand Slam title of his career. Bigger than that, however, is the significance this victory means to the country of Serbia. This trophy is the first Grand Slam title for the country, and Djokovic is the golden boy bringing it home. Before Novak handled Federer, he dispatched No. 5 seed David Ferrer and No. 19 seed Lleyton Hewitt. The Serbian didn’t drop a set until the final when Tsonga won the first set 6-4 before losing the next three 6-4, 6-3, 7-6.

So there you have it. My top 10 moments at the 2008 Australian Open. There really wasn’t enough room for all the moments I thought worthy. I picked them for various reasons, but I thought the top four spots were earned by the victories I put there - not only for the significance they had for the winners but for their countries and the tennis world.

If I was giving honorable mention awards, I would have to give them to the following:

- Tsonga’s whipping of No. 9 Andy Murray in the first round = a hearty thumbs-up.
- Heck – Tsonga himself deserves an honorable mention accolade!
- The Marcos Baghdatis and Lleyton Hewitt brawl.
- Casey Dellacqua’s run – beating No. 15 Patty Schnyder and No. 18 Amelie Mauresmo in three-set battles before getting dropped by Jankovic like a sack of potatoes.

The most memorable moments and honorable mention selections aside – it was a hoppin’ good tournament – bring on the French Open!!

Post from: EveryJoe

Australian Open 2008: The Top 10 Moments

So I watched a couple sets of the men’s finals in Melbourne. After seeing Novak Djokovic grab the second set and take the momentum in the third, I decided to go back to bed. I knew who was going to win. Once Novak takes momentum like that in a match like that playing like he has been – well -  he just doesn’t give it back.

I woke up this morning to find that nothing earth-shattering had happened. Djokovic did indeed win the Australian Open in four sets over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6). It was the first Grand Slam trophy for Djokovic after being in a succession of semi-final and final showdowns. Novak’s victory also gives some distinction to Serbia – his trophy the first Grand Slam title the country has seen.

There is one thing I really couldn’t stand about the final match though, and it had nothing to do with the players on the court. After Tsonga won the first set, one of the announcers kept saying, “Well, the best two out of three.”

Seriously? Come on. How long have you been around tennis? I swear he said it at least two or three times – “the best two out of three.” This is a men’s final. On the men’s side of the draw. This is the singles championship for the Australian Open men’s title. Apparently the rest of the tournament playing the best 3-of-5 meant nothing on championship night.

I couldn’t believe it. At the very least, I wanted one of the other commentators to correct him. And when no one did, I really wanted to reach into the television set and give him what-for. There is a lot of stuff I’ll stand for but when you screw up something that simple. Well – go back to preschool and when you think you’re ready to try playing with the big kids again, make sure when you’re talking about a men’s Grand Slam tournament that you remember it’s the best 3-of-5.

Post from: EveryJoe

Djokovic Wins First Grand Slam Title

So if a little bit is good, does that mean a lot is great?

Novak Djokovic punched Roger Federer’s ticket on the express out of Melbourne in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. In straight sets. Yeah. Wow. Whoa. Did I mention straight sets? Did I mention Roger Federer – the guy who has won 12 Grand Slams – lost?

Holy tumbling tennis pyramid. It must be global warming or something.

I think this victory (or loss – depending on which side you’re standing on) means three things:

- The learning curve has evened out – Roger Federer isn’t unbeatable. Is he still going to win? Yes. Is he still going to be a force to be reckoned with? Yes. Is he still going to have a stranglehold on tennis? I don’t think so.

- The rest of the tennis players on tour can breathe a little bit. Federer is really human after all. And even if Andy Roddick can’t beat him, it doesn’t mean no one else can.

- Tennis will be watched more closely. I like Roger. I think he’s a clinician in the game of tennis, but from a fan viewpoint, the fun is sucked right out of watching a Grand Slam tournament when you know who is going to be hoisting the trophy on the final day. If Roger doesn’t have the world of tennis is his palm like he has for four and a half years, I think the excitement and thrill that comes with not knowing who’s going to win will be piped back into the fans.

Now. With all that said, I realize it was a match. It was one loss for Federer (in straight freakin’ sets!). He could come back from this with a tearing vengeance, and God have mercy on anyone standing in his way. I’m not saying Federer is done for or that he’s never going to win again. That would be ludicrous.

But still – the inkling of a crack that was alluded to throughout the beginning of the season has become a reality. And there really isn’t anyone who can stand there and say Novak didn’t deserve this win. The kid has been playing phenomenally well; I can only hope the final between him and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is, ahem, an “epic”.

Post from: EveryJoe

Roger down, I repeat Roger down!