Rafa gets revenge to reach last eightEurosport - Wed, 19 Mar 23:47:00 2008
Defending champion Rafael Nadal came from a set down and 3-5 behind in the third to scrape past Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 7-6 7-5 in the Pacific Life Open fourth round.
In a repeat of this year's Australian Open semi-final in which Tsonga upset the Spaniard, Nadal gained revenge by winning a fluctuating encounter in just over three hours.
The second seed claimed the last four games as Tsonga's high-risk strategy ultimately backfired and will next meet either Frenchman Richard Gasquet or American James Blake who were due to play later.
On a sun-drenched afternoon at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Nadal and Tsonga traded service breaks in the first two games of the match on the showpiece Stadium Court and then held serve to take the opening set into a tie-break.
Although the long-haired Spaniard established a 3-1 lead, Tsonga dominated the rest of the tie-break.
A searing forehand winner down the line put the 22-year-old Frenchman 4-3 up, an ace took him to 6-3 and he clinched the set 7-4 when left-hander Nadal hit a forehand long.
The second set also began with successive breaks of serve before the two baseline sluggers went into another tiebreak which the Spaniard won 7-3 after surging 5-0 clear.
Both players held serve in the third set until the sixth game when Nadal, who had controlled a protracted rally, over-hit a forehand to be broken and trail 2-4.
Tsonga appeared to be in control when leading 5-3 and serving for the match but he was broken by Nadal in an erratic game that ended when he pushed an explosive forehand wide.
The 17th-seeded Frenchman was again broken in the 11th, double-faulting before hitting another forehand long for the Spaniard to go 6-5 up.
Urged on by the crowd, Nadal served out to seal victory, clinching the final point with an overhead smash.
The aggressive Tsonga, nicknamed Ali for his resemblance to the former world heavyweight boxing champion, ended the match with an overall tally of 47 winners and 56 unforced errors.
Earlier, unseeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka beat South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik 6-1 5-7 6-4 to set up a quarter-final clash with Serb Novak Djokovic or Argentina's Guillermo Canas.
Third-seeded Djokovic was scheduled to play Canas later on Wednesday and Swiss world number one Roger Federer was due to face Croat Ivan Ljubicic in an evening match.
Nadal against 'Ali' Tsonga, revenge for Australia
"In my head the favourite is me" says the Frenchman
A. Delmás
March 19, 2008
In 1 hour 25 minutes, 25 unforced errors didn´t stop Rafael Nadal undoing with ease the very nervous Donald Young. The youngster (of 18 years) from South Side Chicago, only began to loosen up towards the end of the day, just as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was undergoing a tortuous demolition of Paul-Henri Mathieu, 7-6 y 6-4 in 1 hour 48 minutes.
Before all this, Moyá had succumbed to the shots of Blake (6-3, 6-4). And later, David Ferrer despite putting up a tremendous fight against Korean Hyung-Taik Lee, of three tie-break sets lost 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, in 2 hours 50 minutes. But with the demolition of Mathieu, Ali Tsonga paved the path straight to Nadal. "In my head the favourite is me", were the first words the Frenchman said.
Tied
Until today, Nadal and Tsonga, two forces of nature, have collided a couple of times, both being in Grand Slam Tournaments. Tied at 1-1. In the round of 32 of the US Open 2007, Nadal came out ahead in three sets, despite back and knee problems 7-6, 6-2, 6-1. But in the semifinals of the 2008 Australian Open, Tsonga, hitting like a demon, swept aside Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to face Djokovic in the final.
"Nadal is proud and loves challenges", Tsonga also said, before issuing words like a gunshot "I have the possibility of demonstrating that what happened in Australia wasn´t just luck. My quality isn´t purely tennis. I win many matches with motivation. I love to play with the crowd, that way I can impress my opponent." This boy carries something of Mohammed Ali in his veins. If it were not so, he wouldn´t talk like that. Those are the psychological declarations made by Ali before any great combat, like the celebrated one against Foreman in 1974, en Kinshasa. There was Tsonga´s father, Didier: "Ali, Boma-Ye", "Ali, kill him", urged the crowds of Kinshasa. "Ahe fambi", "go for him", in Bantu. Just like Didier urged his son against Djokovic in the great final of Australia.
Nadal bites his lips, he doesn´t give clues. "It is very difficult. To win I will have to give 100%". Tsonga might be Ali, but Nadal is like Frazier. There will be a fight.
Who didn´t have one was Roger Federer, who dispatched the Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in 53 minutes (6-1 y 6-1). Source: www.as.com
Above photo credit: Getty
El mundo photo credit
Photo credit: Ines also known as Ganda at The Forum at
