Wimbledon: Djokovic Ousts Tsonga To Reach Final, Takes Top Spot

Djokovic becomes new world number one

Novak Djokovic is likely to become the new world number one after the Serb eliminated Jo-Wilfried  Tsonga from the Wimbledon semi finals 7-6, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 to reach his second major final of the season. The Serb will go top of the standings on Monday, and is to break Rafa Nadal’s 56-week hegemony.

The 24-year-old Nole, who is edging his eighth title of the season, as well as the second Grand Slam one, has gone 47-1 in 2011, something which has propelled him top spot for the first time in career. He needed nearly three hours to oust Roger Federer’s killer past whom he hit five aces and 34 winners. On the other side, world number 12 Tsonga hit 12 aces and more winners, 41, than his opponent, but allowed the Serb to break him six times compared to his five opportunities and three conversions.

The Frenchman, finalist at the Queens, stunned Djokovic on his first serve of the meeting, managing to take a two-game lead he would fail to preserve though until the end of the opener. Nole broke him when counted the most, in the tenth game of the first run, to push the game into tie-break. Even more than that, despite a difficult start, the Australian Open champion left Tsonga three mini-breaks adrift to clinch the opener in just over an hour.

Concerning the second set, it saw the same Nole improve his play and take a couple of breaks in the first and fifth runs to take the two-set lead after just 28 minutes. As for the third set, it highlighted Tsonga doing the same things he had done to Roger Federer, threatening with a second half comeback. The French broke Djokovic twice in the eighth and 12^th game respectively. Djokovic led him 3-1 at one point thanks to an early break, and had another chance to close the game at 6-5 when he served for match. Unfortunately, Tsonga managed to grab a late break which helped him to push the set into a second breaker which he eventually won at the death after 20 mini-break run, at nine.

Finally, the decider showed Nole looking as a real favorite not only for the semi final, but also for the big trophy. The Serb broke his opponent early in the second game to take a 3-0 lead within minutes. Furthermore, with a last effort, he simply stunned Tsonga with a great defence play which helped him to stay in touch with the victor throughout the entire set. He then held all his services to win the decider in just over half an hour.

Said Nole at the end of the game: “It is difficult to put it into words but it is one of the best feelings I have ever had on a tennis court. My dreams are coming true. It will be my first Wimbledon final and I am so happy to be through. Hopefully there will be more celebrations to come.” The head to head series between him and Tsonga have now gone 5-3 to the Frenchman who last defeated him at the 2010 Australian Open.

Nole won 66 percentage of his first serve points, 25 net points and had a 50 percentage on break points, compared to Tsonga who won 68 percentage of service points and who also committed 29 unforced errors, 13 more than his opponent. Next up for Novak Djokovic is either Rafa Nadal or Andy Murray.

En route to the semi final, the Serb had previously defeated Bernard Tomic whom he ousted in four sets, and Michael Lodra whom the Serb upset in straight sets in the fourth term. Nole has made his Wimbledon debut with two straight-set wins over Jeremy Chardy and Kevin Anderson, while the third round has brought him his first hard-fought victory of the tournament as he needed four sets to oust Marcos Baghdatis.

Tsonga’s progression had included a five-set huge win over the former leader and six-time champion Roger Federer, as well as an amazing three-set success over another main favorite, David Ferrer, whom the French had eliminated 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. Tsonga started his Wimbledon adventure with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 win over Go Soeda of Japan, and continued with a four-set one over Grigor Dimitrov. The third round saw him beat Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in three sets. His English performance has brought him a 275,000 pound check and 720 points ATP, while Djokovic has secured a 550,000 pound check and 1,200 points.

On the first half of the table, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray are to set their 16^th lifetime meeting. The Spaniard follows a four-set win against Mardy Fish whom he defeated 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in the quarter finals. The 25-year-old lead, who is to lose his top spot next week, is edging his second straight trophy in Wimbledon where he is drawn as main favorite. His next opponent Andy Murray, who is struggling to grab his first major trophy, has also shown some great shape these two weeks as the Scott has conceded just a couple of sets in the previous rounds.

The Scott beat Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter finals, and is to reach his second major final of the season after Australian Open. Murray has started this term’s Wimbledon with a four-set win over Daniel Gimeno and continued it with a straight-set victory against Tobias Kamke. Finally, the third term brought him another four-set win against Ivan Ljubicic, while the fourth one saw him oust Richard Gasquet in three sets.

The head to head series between Nadal and Murray have gone 11-4 to the Spaniard who last defeated the Scott at this term’s French open. Andy’s last victory dates from the 2010 Toronto Masters.

Wimbledon Prize Money and points:

Winner – 1,100,000 pounds and 2000 points ATP

Runner-up – 550,000 pounds and 1,200 points ATP

Semi finalist – 275,000 pounds and 720 points ATP

Quarter finalist – 137,500 pounds and 360 points ATP

R16 – 68,750 pounds and 180 points ATP

R32 – 34,375 pounds and 90 points ATP

R64 – 20,125 pounds and 45 points ATP

R128 – 11,500 pounds and 10 points ATP