By Chris Oddo | Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Jo-Wilfried brought the French faithful to an emotional high with his five-set takedown of Kei Nishikori in Paris on Tuesday.
Photo Source: Thibault Camus/AP
It started with a blitz, was delayed by an emergency, stuttered to a halt then whizzed to the finish with an emotional flourish.
Video: Metal Debris Falls onto Spectators at Roland Garros, Spectators Injured
All in a day’s work for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who became just the second Frenchman to reach multiple Roland Garros semifinals in the Open Era with a 6-1, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 victory over 5th-seeded Kei Nishikori on a windy Tuesday in Paris.
Tsonga dug his teeth into the match from the onset, punching through the biting wind with aggressive forehands and breaking Nishikori in five of his first six service games to rush out to a 6-1, 5-1 lead (Nishikori did little to help himself in the first two sets, as he struggled with his footwork, and struck only nine winners against 30 unforced errors).
But relief came in the form of an emergency for Nishikori. A dangerous situation caused a prolonged delay on Court Philippe Chatrier when a large piece of metal was blown from the top of a video scoreboard in the corner of the stadium and bounded down on top of spectators. While the players were sent off court with Tsonga leading 5-2, emergency crews worked to evacuate the section and treat those who suffered minor injuries.
When play resumed, Nishikori’s resolve was clearly stiffer and he garnered early results, winning the second and third of three straight games before Tsonga managed to hold for a two sets to love lead.
But Nishikori’s surge was just beginning. Hitting with pinpoint accuracy and defending desperately when he needed to, he staved off three break points at 4-4 in set three before rallying to take the set.
In the fourth set, with the rowdy Chatrier crowd simmering to a lull, Nishikori saved two more break points to hold for 2-1 then broke in the next game.
Now in the midst of a run of 11 consecutive service holds, Nishikori would save another break point at 5-3 and convert his third set point to make it 12.
But despite Nishikori’s run of fine serving, and his shining record of 9-1 in previous five-setters at Grand Slams, the decider was all about the moxie—and serving—of Tsonga.
The Frenchman would break early, on a netted forehand by Nishikori for a 3-1 lead, and let his giant serve do the rest of the work. Rattling down 130-plus MPH serves, Tsonga raced to the finish line without a break point faced, dropping only three points on serve in his five service games.
Never one to shy away from post-match celebrations, the Frenchman took it to the next level on this day, reveling in the moment for a bit before sketching a phrase into the clay with the heels of his feet. It wasn’t Guga’s heart but it might as well have been. Though it was missing a character, Tsonga took care of that by lying down to finish the message, his hulking body serving at the letter T.
“Roland, Je t’aime,” it read.
Tsonga will attempt to keep the love affair brewing in the semis when he faces Stan Wawrinka. The pair have split six career matches. A Frenchman has not reached the final at Roland Garros since Henri Leconte did so in 1988.