TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – For the second successive major, Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were placed in the same half of the draw and projected to meet in the Round of 16. For the second successive time, they met in the 4th round and Djokovic won in straight sets to move through to the quarterfinals. Cordell Hackshaw
Results, Order of Play, Draws and Interviews from The Championships
For the second successive major, Novak Djokovic (1) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were placed in the same half of the draw and projected to meet in the Round of 16. For the second successive time, they in the 4th round and Djokovic won in straight sets to move through to the quarterfinals. In just under two hours, under the closed roof of Centre Court, Djokovic dismissed Tsonga 6-3 6-4 7-65. Despite it being another straight sets victory and Djokovic’s 11th consecutive victory over Tsonga, this match was far from the one-sided thrashing the Frenchman received in Paris.
Tsonga came on court seemingly more confident in this matchup than he did in Paris. The grass courts of Wimbledon favour his big game and he showed this throughout the match. However, he takes big swipes at the ball and such heavy handedness often results in unforced errors. Both men were holding serve with ease in the early stages of the match. Tsonga was serving in quick succession. It seemed as though his aim was to hold with ease and put the pressure on Djokovic to do so in return. However, he got caught in his own trap as Djokovic was very quick with his return. In the 6th game, Djokovic had triple break points. Tsonga was able to save two of them but on the third, he took a huge crack at the ball on his forehand side and it went way wide. Djokovic consolidated the break to go up 5-2 and later closed it out 6-3 with an ace.
The 2nd set was more of the same, both men held serve comfortably till 3-3. Tsonga played a poor service game in the 7th game and on another forehand error, Djokovic broke for a 4-3 lead. Djokovic consolidate for a 5-3 and had set points on Tsonga’s serve but the Frenchman was able to save them and held. Djokovic gladly accepted the challenge of serving out the set as he did 6-4. In less than an hour, it was 2-0 sets to Djokovic. In the 3rd set, several times, Tsonga served himself of trouble to hold. He was able to earn his first break points in the 8th game but Djokovic quickly erased them with huge serves. Both men continued to hold serve for the next four games to go to a tiebreaker. For 11 points, they remained on serve until Djokovic up 6-5 unleashed a magnificent backhand crosscourt return winner to take the tiebreaker, the set and the match, 6-3 6-4 7-55.
“[T]o be able to win against him in straight sets on the surface that I feel suits him the most is a great result. I was very happy with consistency today, mental consistency, and variety in my game. I played very well from back of the court … All in all, it was a very good match, and hopefully I can continue keeping the same level,” Djokovic said after the match. The Serbian had very positive numbers with 14 aces, no double faults, won 44 winners and 11 errors to go along with 81% on 1st serve points won and 68% on 2nd serves. Tsonga’s numbers were not too far off with 19 aces, 2 double faults, 37 winners and 12 errors. He won 78% of his 1st serve points and 60% on 2nd serves. The main difference between the two really came down to who played the big points better and who was far more efficient. Tsonga’s errors came in a bundle resulting him being broken twice whereas Djokovic’s mistakes were spread out avoiding any serious consequences. Djokovic will play Marin Cilic (26) in the quarterfinals.