It has been about two years since folks stopped taking Jo-Wilfried Tsonga very seriously, which was two years after he was tagged as a surefire top-5 player-to-be with serious Slam winning potential when he shocked Rafa Nadal in the Australian Open semis. Then came the injuries, the doubts, and the poor performances after very good ones. It seemed that his time had passed and he would return to being a chronically injured underachiever. Just a year and nine months after he had fallen to Novak Djokovic in the Aussie Open, Juan Martin Del Potro soared past him as the next big thing when the Argentine won the 2009 US Open. The memories of Big Jo leaping up to the rooftop of Rod Laver Arena dissipated.
But now Tsonga has risen again and this time pulled off an even more impressive win then the one he threw down on Nadal when he knocked six-times Wimbledon champion Roger Federer out 3-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 6-4 and earn himself a semifinal match up against Djokovic.
It was the first time that Federer had lost a Grand Slam match from two sets up in 179 tries, but really, the Swiss did not play badly. He only had one break point in the match and converted it. Tsonga served huge, volleyed well and dictated with his forehand. Federer should have found a way to get more returns back in play and but he didn