There was a moment shortly after Roger Federer defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 7-6 (3) in Sunday's final of the BNP Paribas Masters when he sat briefly on his courtside seat and held his head in his hands.
It didn't last long but it was easy to imagine that he was thinking about how hard it is to finally win a tournament like Paris-Bercy (after eight tries), especially coming right after his title at home in Basel last week.
As the years go by, he surely appreciates more and more what an effort it takes to have that kind of success, and just how satisfying it is. That's what that moment was all about. In his presentation ceremony speech, he mentioned how one of his daughters had woken up at 4 a.m. Sunday morning. He said obviously that was not a good time but that when your child is not feeling well you have to be there. There has been much made of Federer winning 800 matches — now at 802 — and other statistical milestones of late. But here's another one: the BNP Paribas victory is his first major victory (Grand Slam or Masters 1000) since turning 30.
Even though the first set ended up one-sided, it had a very eventful first two games. Tsonga had two break points at 15-40 in the opening game but missed an aggressive backhand service return long and then was on the receiving end of a service winner. Back to deuce, Federer was able to take the game two points later on a backhand miss by Tsonga. But it wasn't actually a miss. Television Hawk-Eye replay showed it hit on the juncture of both lines. However, Tsonga did not challenge. The next game, Tsonga led 30-love before Federer ran off four points in a row.
What a dizzying start for Tsonga — in position to be broken, Federer holds; in position to hold, Tsonga is broken. The first set was top-shelf Federer and a Tsonga who seemed to be feeling the effects of a two-hour, 58-minute match with John Isner the previous evening.
Play in the second set was much more competitive, with Tsonga going from 58 percent of first-serve points won in the first set to 84 per cent in the second. In terms of break points, Federer saved one serving at 1-2 and another one 3-4. The latter was very dramatic. Tsonga thought his aggressive forehand had landed good (until a Federer challenge proved it was well long) and the crowd went crazy.
The match-deciding tiebreak was pretty over after the first two points. Federer got a mini-break on the opening point when Tsonga missed a lame forehand into the net and then took the second with a serve and ripper, angled cross-court forehand winner.
For the record, Tsonga sailed a forehand long on the third championship point and Federer immediately threw his arms in the air in celebration. Maybe an indication of just how much it meant to him was that he actually blew a kiss to the crowd when he stood out to accept their applause right after the match.
—Tom Tebbutt