Tightrope Walk Across Paris

“There are exciting days in tennis, and then there are days like this, when you don’t know which way to look.”

That was the opening line to my write-up on this year’s French Open quarterfinal between Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The schedulers at Roland Garros, as is their habit, made it as difficult as possible on us that afternoon. They scheduled Nole-Jo in Chatrier at the same time as another quarterfinal clash of the titans, between Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro, on Suzanne Lenglen. Each match, naturally, went five sets and was a must-see. I sat in the press section of Chatrier, while keeping my eye on a TV monitor above the seats there. At one stage, Djokovic and Federer faced crucial break points at the same time; their service motions were perfectly in sync. Later, Federer and Tsonga held simultaneous match points. What can a tennis fan do at times like that?

Whatever the distractions, it was a special scene inside Chatrier that day. As the weather went from bright to ominous, Jo found his range, and the crowd came along for the ride. In the upper seats, there was a near-constant agitation to do the Wave. In the lower tier, which was filled with suits and hats, there was a rolling roar. In the end, Djokovic overcame it all, as well as four match points, to win 6-1, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-1. It didn't get any more tense in 2012 than the latter stages of the fourth set here. After some points, an older man in front of me took off his beret and began to bite it.

Most memorable was Tsonga afterward, a towel over his head and tears in his eyes, the typically fickle French audience rising to cheer his effort.

—Tsonga fans, and Djokovic-haters, might want to fast-forward past the first set of this clip. It’s all Novak, as Tsonga gets off to an exceptionally slow, even indifferent, beginning. He appears to be out of position for approximately half of his shots. As bad as it is, though, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone who has watched French stars play at Roland Garros in the past. Sometimes they ride the emotion; just as often it rides over them. Tsonga said before the tournament that because of the surface, he doubted any French player would win their national championship any time soon. He starts this match as if he believes it.

—After losing to Djokovic in straight sets in the semifinals of this tournament, Federer was asked about the non-competitive nature of the third set of their match. He said that he felt like he had little chance, because Djokovic, up two sets, could play “with no fear.” With Tsonga struggling, that’s how Djokovic plays most of the first two sets of this one; he's in his own version of Federer’s “full flight.” In Novak’s case, we say he’s “clinical" at these moments, and that’s a good way to describe his thoroughness and accuracy at the start of this one. He goes up 6-1, 4-2 and appears ready to make it a distinctly un-memorable afternoon.

—Jo eventually gets the blood flowing. You can hear the shift, as he begins to grunt near the end of the second set. In this match, as in so many others, he’s at his best when appears to be putting on a performance. More than most top players, Tsonga goes as far as his momentum will take him. It takes him very far in this one, to the brink of victory, and inside the stadium it felt like he was taking all of Paris along with him. By the end of the third set, running through forehands and backhands but still clocking them for winners, Jo is soaring.

—As for Djokovic, is he better off when his parents don’t come to these things? In this match, and in the final, the big screen in Chatrier showed Novak’s father, Srdjan, standing up and pointing at his head, as if to say to his son, “Get it together.” That must be a strange thing to look up and see on a Jumbotron.

—By the fourth set, the skies are dark, the rain is increasing, the balls are getting heavier, and the court is slowing down. It’s a war of attrition. Tsonga’s full flight takes him to double match point at 5-4. And then Djokovic, released from nerves and fear again, does what he so often does. On the first match point, he greases the line with an overhead, and then guesses right to angle off a forehand volley winner. On the second, he comes up with an excellent first serve, and hauls off on a forehand winner.

That isn’t the last of his great escapes. Down 5-6, 15-30, Djokovic again pounds a fearless forehand winner. Down 2-4 in the subsequent tiebreaker, he plays a point that the Italian commentators call “perfecto.” At 6-6, he comes up with a brilliant return of serve off of a very solid Tsonga delivery.

Afterward, Djokovic himself is at a loss to explain his ability to play so well with his back so firmly against the wall:

“There is really not a rational explanation,” he says quite rationally, “or a word that can describe what you’re supposed to do when you’re match points down. It’s…I guess…trying to be mentally tough and believing in your shots. I don’t want to be wise now and say, 'OK I know how to play when I’m match points down.' Because as I said, there is no explanation. I’m just going for the shots. I’m glad I was aggressive.”

—The fifth set mirrors Paris’s gray skies. Tsonga, as you can see here, keeps battling, but he’s grounded now, the performance is over. Afterward Jo is subdued but lucid:

“You get all kinds of feelings going through your mind,” he says when he's asked how he felt during the fifth set. “You want to break your racquet. You want to shout. You want to cry. You want to laugh and say, ‘Oh come on, that’s a joke. How could I lose this match?' You want to wake up.”

At the end of the presser, Tsonga is asked to give “a few words in English for your fans in the U.K.”

“Now it’s time to have a cup of tea,” he says without missing a beat. The reporters laugh and Tsonga breaks into a grin.

It might have been Tsonga’s greatest victory; now it may be his toughest defeat. It could have gone either way.

"One of us had to win," Djokovic says.

"It's tennis," Tsonga says.

Steve Tignor's Top 10 Matches of 2012:

No. 1:The Miracle on Grass: Lukas Rosol d. Rafael Nadal

        No. 2: <em>The Struggle Down Under:</em> Novak Djokovic d. Rafael Nadal  

        No. 3: <em>Olympian Efforts:</em> Roger Federer d. Juan Martin del Potro  

        No. 4: <em>Wooing Them:</em> Victoria Azarenka d. Sam Stosur  

        No. 5: <em>Tightrope Walk Across Paris:</em> Novak Djokovic d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga  

        No. 6: <em>Winning Like It's 1999:</em> Serena Williams d. Victoria Azarenka  

        No. 7: <em>Fireworks:</em> Rafael Nadal d. Roger Federer  

        No. 8: <em>Sturm and Drang:</em> Angelique Kerber d. Sabine Lisicki  

        No. 9: <em>Sculpting a Strange Masterpiece:</em> Bernard Tomic d. Alexandr Dolgopolov<em>*  

No. 10: Stunner in Paris:* Virginie Razzano d. Serena Williams