Attacking tennis--the kind that so many of us lament is a thing of the past--is alive and well and as effective as ever. At the moment, no one practices it as well as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the wide-eyed, fist pumping, drop-volleying, forehand slamming, backhand slicing, overhead-swatting machine who has taken over the body of a charming French boy with a winning smile. Not too many people dominate Rafael Nadal by the score of 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal didn't play poorly, either. There was no escaping Tsonga; Nadal could only muster three break points, all in the same game, and once those disappeared, defeat was inevitable.
"I tried to play little bit slower; I tried to play a little bit faster; I tried to play more inside the court; behind the court," Nadal said. "No chance. Not today."
I first paid attention to Tsonga last year when Mr. Bodo, my partner-in-blog, posted on him prior to Wimbledon. Tsonga was on an extensive winning streak then and I made sure to see him early at the All England Club. He reached the fourth round there; if you want extra background on him, you can find a profile I wrote back then here.
Tsonga won the U.S. Open junior tournament and would have bumped Marcos Baghdatis out of the top spot in the junior rankings if he had won a few more matches to close out his junior season (according to some of our French colleagues, the possibility of finishing first caused Tsonga to choke). He chalked up a few impressive wins early in his career, including one over Mario Ancic, but a back injury (a bulging disc) and abdominal injuries kept him off the courts for months at a time.
He's healthy now and playing better tennis than he has ever played--frankly, he's playing tennis as well as it can be played by anyone. Who knows how long he will keep it up, but tonight he was unbeatable. His power--on his serve and forehand especially, and more recently on his backhand--stands out, but power isn't the key to his game. Tsonga has varied his shots this tournament, hitting loopy forehands, slow slices, hard drives, soft angles, and bullets down the line. He hit drop volley winners with regularity against Nadal, including one half-volley drop and two lunging backhand stabs that cut across the net and began spinning backwards. He moves beautifully, too, and anticipates passing shots. Tsonga was out of position at the net once or twice the entire match; oftentimes moved as if Nadal had told him where he would try to pass. Nadal was stunned. Repeatedly. The Spaniard smiled after a few Tsonga winners and often shook his head in disbelief.
Here's what Pat Rafter, one of the game's great attackers, had to say about Tsonga's game.
"I saw him play against Gasquet, and I just loved the way he changed the pace of the ball up. He did a lot of slow sort of looping balls. I thought he could play from all court: Baseline, at the net, big serve, big athlete, big kid. But no one these days you never see anyone change the pace of the game up. No one does the slice backhands or the loopy stuff anymore and he does that. It's just really nice. Not so much the slice backhand, but he does the loopy stuff and just throws the guys junk every now and then."
Rafter continued: "I mean, was just someone that fed a lot of people junk, as well. I didn't mean to, but that's just how I played. A lot of people didn't like it…. Felix Mantilla had the best comment when I played him once. He said, 'My grandmother hits the ball harder than [you].' I know. I try to hit the ball harder, but I can't. I think there's room for that type of game, as well. It's hard to generate pace off a ball that has nothing on it. So yeah, I think that serve and volley has a place. Just frustrates people."
Nadal was a picture of frustration tonight and there's a simple reason why: Tsonga's best beats Nadal's best. He defends well, plays offense extremely well, and gives his opponents no time to think (a winning forehand or volley could come at any moment, from any spot on the court). The question is, can Tsonga continue to play anywhere near this well for long stretches, or even on Sunday in his first Grand Slam final? Nadal shared his thoughts.
"He's improving," Nadal said. "He improve a lot. But the truth is I think he can't play at this level every time, no? Running unbelievable, physically very explosive, everything. What I can say?"
You'll recall that Fernando Gonzalez reached this final last year in nearly as impressive fashion (tons of winners, a few errors here and there). He had a good look at the first set in the final against Federer, and then he was done. No telling whether that will happen again. Here's hoping that Tsonga brings his best stuff to the final and gives Federer a new puzzle to try to solve or Djokovic one final hurdle on the path to his first major title.
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