After a turbulent first set, defending champion Novak Djokovic found his best tennis and set up a probable semifinal clash with Roger Federer, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 7-5, 6-1.
Tsonga led the head-to-head 5-4 coming into this match, but this was their first encounter on red clay. Djokovic announced his intentions early, racing to a 3-0 lead. In a reversal of what one might expect from this encounter, Djokovic’s usually impeccable backhand leaked errors as Tsonga began to mix it up magnificently on his weaker wing, throwing in a mix of slices and finding short angles for clean cross-court winners. Tsonga managed to get back on serve not once but twice, breaking Djokovic down 4-2 when he threw in a crisp drop volley which the Serb could only push wide.
The next few games afforded a glimpse of Tsonga at his creative, ferocious best, doing everything well except sporadically missing the forehand down the line, each miss eliciting the familiar <em>‘ah non!’</em> from the expressive Frenchman. With Djokovic serving at 5-5, the pair played a succession of brutal points, going toe-to-toe in cross-court exchanges settled by who could change direction down the line first and best. Outright aggression on the backhand earned Tsonga a break point, but Djokovic opted to play the percentages, going cross-court behind a good serve and gambling that Tsonga would not be able to make the backhand down the line at this key moment. The risk paid off, and it was Djokovic’s turn to go on the attack at 5-6, punishing Tsonga for two less-than-crisp volleys and striking his 13th winner of the set for three break points. Tsonga saved all three, but a poor approach at deuce cost hm dearly and—to the crowd’s horror—double-faulted to drop the set.
Handed an advantage like that, Djokovic—who is second only to Bjorn Borg in winning matches after taking the first set—began to press it, pressuring Tsonga’s serve with his trademark deep returns at 0-1. Tsonga’s competitive resolve began to crack; after Djokovic’s return forced an error for 30-40, the Frenchman dropped his racquet and flung a spare ball pettishly away before double-faulting again to give the top seed a break lead in the second.
From there, the Djokovic shone as Tsonga faded, winning every point behind his first serve in the second set to lead 5-0 after a service hold that took all of 55 seconds. Tsonga pulled himself together to hold for 1-5 and even earned a break point after teeing up a magnificent forehand as Djokovic served for the match, but a forehand winner from the Serb erased any chances of a last-minute miracle. Djokovic closed out the match with a service winner, sealing a performance that despite his problems on the backhand in the first set was generally sharp and devoid of the listlessness we’ve seen at times from him recently. He will need to be even better in the next round if he is going to defend his title here in Rome.