Tsonga beats Djokovic in epic
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was an impressive winner over third seed Novak Djokovic
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Wednesday, 27, Jan 2010 01:37
By inthenews.co.uk staff.
France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is through to the semi-finals of the Australian Open after a five-set thriller against world number three Novak Djokovic.
Despite taking a 2-1 lead in sets the Serbian visibly wilted after being ill midway through the fourth and collapsed to a 7-6 6-7 1-6 6-3 6-1 defeat.
The match was a real battle throughout with the first two sets - both ending in tiebreaks - being split between the players.
The Frenchman was the first to blink as Djokovic found his length, racing through the third set to take a decisive lead.
But back came the Frenchman to send the match into a decider against his ailing opponent.
And from that moment on there only looked like being one winner, with Djokovic forced to leave the court twice because of a stomach complaint.
The third seed was unable to compete as Tsonga raised his game and ran away with the result - breaking three times on his way to victory.
In the semi-finals, 24-year-old Tsonga faces top seed Roger Federer who beat Nikolay Davydenko in the day's earlier quarter-final.