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 Some players blossom under the spotlight, and others wither.
One of the interesting things about this year will be seeing how Jo-WilfriedTsonga copes with his new big-time status after reaching the finals of the Australian Open.
At first glance, Tsonga seems to fit into the Marat Safin archetype, a player with unlimited potential who announced himself with an unforgettable performance -- Safin against Pete Sampras in the 2000 US Open final, Tsonga against Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semifinals in January.
Safin struggled to cope with the burden of the standard he'd set himself with his near-perfect play in that match. He became famously unpredictable, and was then permanently cut down by the after-effects of injury. Tsonga is built much like the big, athletic Russian, and seems just as reliant on inspiration. His game is more all-round, but its overwhelming quality is decidedly familiar. But there is one crucial element Tsonga has which may make all the difference -- joy in peforming.
As the Frenchman plays his first big tournament since Melbourne, it's still uncertain how he'll respond to the mangnifed expectations and attention that will trail him for at least the next few months. But it's clear two things will be key -- confidence, and crowds.
Tsonga frames playing were in terms of being "there" -- being "there" on the court, being "there" with his tennis. That translates into focus, calm and purpose. His Australian Open run hasn't changed his game, Tsonga said after his last match, but is has changed the way he feels on court. "Difference no, confident, yes," he said. "I know I can beat maybe every player and so for me it's different on the court because I know I can do it."
The stands were packed on Stadium 2 as he defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu in a match that could turn out to be a Davis Cup singles playoff. Leaving the court for a bathroom break following the first set, even Mathieu had a bit of trouble convincing the jostling crowd to let him in. But it was Tsonga they were there to see -- his Muhammad Ali-looks, emotive court presence and enormous potential means he's not going be playing to empty stands in the near future.
Not a problem -- bring it on. "I like this and I play with this because for me tennis is a big show," he said. "I don't know, if I play without crowd, I don't go on the court [mentally]. So I do everything to have the crowd with me."
His most memorable moment after getting back to France was not a big party or celebrity meeting or finding himself swamped by cameras, but the reaction he got from the crowd when playing his first post-Australian match in France at the ATP event in Marseille. ""When I was out on the court, the crowd was like this [waving hands and going 'ahhh'] for ten minutes," he said. "Standing ovation."
On Monday, he charmed Stadium 2 right to the end, encouraging them to cheer louder and louder as he walked up to hit a souvenir ball into the stands. Facing one end of the stands, he swung his racquet -- and sent the ball behind him into the opposite side. That drew laughter -- and even louder cheers.
The brilliance in his play was there against Mathieu, but it came in flashes rather than the gushing stream we saw in Australia. His coach, Eric Winogradsky, pointed out that Tsonga is still shaking off rust from taking a few weeks off after playing the Australian Open and making his Davis Cup debut back-to-back. "You cannot be as confident as you were four weeks ago," said Winogradsky. "It takes time, and it takes more him for him than it does for a player who's playing at the baseline, hitting the ball and running right to left. His game is more complete."
The break was for emotional recuperation. The back problems which troubled him until last season are still "in my head," he said, but care and treatment are keeping them at bay for the moment.
The acid test for Tsonga will come in the next round as he takes on Nadal -- the tournament's first true
popcorn match. There'll be an interesting dynamic to the encounter: though Tsonga won in three jaw-dropping sets the last time around, he and everyone else knows there's little chance of him playing like that again. Australia, which makes this match meaningful, is thus also meaningless.
Despite that, and despite the fact that the slower, high-bouncing court here favours Nadal, Tsonga was upbeat. "Yeah,I'm very excited because I know it's gonna be there on the court," he said. "And maybe he won't beat me at this time [either] so for me it's very good to play against him."
It'll tell us a lot about whether Tsonga can be "there," with Nadal -- and the rest of the top guys -- for the remainder of the season.
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A few notes about the clutch of three-setters today:
David Nalbandian won with one of his typical rope-a-dope scorelines, losing the second set to
love and falling a break behind in the third before coming through 7-6(1), 0-6, 7-6(6).
Andy Murray won against Ivo Karlovic by what seems like the typical score of 7-6(7), 6-7(3), 6-3, but there were in fact several games that went against serve. Karlovic was a break up in both the first two sets before falling back, and played an accomplished second-set tiebreak to even the match. Murray took a 3-0 lead to stat the third-- it's not known exactly what happened because at that point everyone was watching Monica Seles' tepidly-received performance on Dancing with the Stars.
Maria Sharapova was two games away from losing before pulling herself together against Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Ana Ivanovic did the same against Francesca Schiavone 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 -- the contest was moved to Stadium 3 when matches ran late on Stadium 2 and didn't start till about 8:00 pm. There were two other turnarounds -- Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Ashley Harkleroad 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 and Vera Zvonareva ended Casey Dellaqua's run 6-7(5), 6-0, 6-4.
Juan Carlos Ferrero and Mario Ancic played the match of the tournament so far, with Ferrero winning 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(7) and also hitting the shot of the tournament -- a between-the-legs lob winner. Both players had multiple match points, and plenty of memorable points. Serving at 5-6, Ancic saved one by winning the point practically three times against a dogged Ferrero, and held two match points himself at 6-4 in the tiebreaker. Ferrero reached his final match point by hitting a reflex backhand volley off a letcord followed by Ancic missing a routine passing shot.
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