TENNIS ROLAND GARROS – With top seeded players falling by the wayside every day at the 2014 French Open, including two on the Day 8; Angelique Kerber and Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic knew not to underestimate his opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Serb totally dominated the match from start to finish as he dismissed the last “legitimate” French hopes at these championships in straight sets 6-1 6-4 6-1 in about 90 minutes. Cordell Hackshaw
Interviews, Results, OOP, Draws from the Roland Garros
With top seeded players falling by the wayside every day at the 2014 French Open, including two on the Day 8; Angelique Kerber (9) and Roger Federer (4), Novak Djokovic (2) knew not to underestimate his opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13). Tsonga in fact at the 2012 French Open, pushed Djokovic to 5 sets after trailing a set and a break down. However, Djokovic is hardly one to make the same mistake twice. He totally dominated the match from start to finish as he dismissed the last “legitimate” French hopes at these championships in straight sets 6-1 6-4 6-1 in about 90 minutes. Djokovic assessed his play: “The performance was great from the start till the end. I came with the exact level of intensity that I was looking for before the start of the match.” Tsonga described the feeling of being on the other side of the net, “You feel powerless, defenseless, so it’s not pleasant.” Djokovic’s fans and critics now have real evidence to think that Djokovic can in fact dethrone Rafael Nadal here in Paris and complete the career slam.
Djokovic was out to a 5-0 lead in the 1st set in less than a half an hour. He was very close to taking it at love but uncharacteristic forehand errors handed Tsonga his first game of the match. However, he could do nothing to avert the 1-6 scoreline as Djokovic was near flawless in the set. The Serbian dropped only 6 points on serve, was 2/3 on break points with 5 winners and 5 errors. Tsonga was being pushed far back behind the baseline and forced to run from side to side. The 2nd set began no differently than the first as Djokovic raced out to a 5-2 lead. “I didn’t have time to go for my shots. I didn’t get off to a good start. Then against this type of player, things started to deteriorate. He played better and better. For me, it was tough. I didn’t have time to hit my shots, so it was tough.” Tsonga said of the match. However, the Frenchman is no pushover and perhaps urged on by pride and his people, he broke Djokovic as he served for the set and held to be down a single break at 4-5. Djokovic would not give Tsonga another chance as he closed out the set 6-4.
Djokovic was not about to let any momentum swing Tsonga’s way in the 3rd set. He broke Tsonga twice for a 4-0 lead and just to avoid any nervous jitters perhaps, broke him again in the 7th game for a comprehensive win 6-1 6-4 6-1. The Serbian’s match statistics were outstanding just as were his winners. He won 70% of his first serves and 77% on his second serve. He was broken once and broke his opponent’s serve 7 times in the match. Tsonga could only win 55% of the points on his first serve and a dismal 35% on his second. Tsonga’s poor serving was coupled with 38 errors for the match. Djokovic will play Milos Raonic (8) in the quarterfinals. The young Canadian took out Marcel Granollers of Spain in straight sets. Djokovic spoke of his matchup with the youngster, “Milos is playing the tennis of his life. He’s top 10 now, established top 10 player. He has one of the best serves in the world. Very powerful, very precise. When he serves that well, there is not much you can do, really.” This is sure to be an exciting match particularly for the fans of both players as well as tennis fans in general.
