A place in the Shanghai final will be at stake when Novak Djokovic goes up against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Saturday. Djokovic is coming off a three-set win over another Frenchman, Gael Monfils
Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be facing each other for the 16th time in their careers when they collide in the semifinals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Saturday afternoon.
Djokovic leads the head-to-head series10-5 after winning their only previous 2013 encounter 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters. They have squared off 10 times on hard courts, with Djokovic having won six of those meetings.
Tsonga is a considerable underdog in this one, but he is back in fine form after missing the entire U.S. Open Series in the aftermath of a knee injury sustained at Wimbledon. The ninth-ranked Frenchman reached the Metz final, beat Gael Monfils in Tokyo before a hiccup against Ivan Dodig, and so far this week he has taken out Pablo Andujar, Kei Nishikori, and Florian Mayer all in straight sets. Tsonga owns a 37-13 record for his 2013 campaign.
Djokovic scored straight-set victories over Marcel Granollers and Fabio Fognini before overcoming Monfils 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 during quarterfinal action. The world No. 2 is coming off a title in Beijing, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the final. Djokovic’s Asian hot streak, which is helping to erase the demons of a U.S. Open final loss to Nadal, has him at 60-9 for the year.
The defending champion of this event is looking especially motivated in the wake of his setback in New York and recent succumbing of the No. 1 ranking to Nadal. Monfils stole a set on Friday, but it took a borderline heroic effort to do so–and Monfils plays much better defense than Tsonga, allowing him to withstand Djokovic’s baseline barrages. Djokovic is playing well enough right now to dictate play from the back of the court and expose Tsonga’s backhand.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 with no tiebreakers
[polldaddy poll=7468887]
Stop teasing, Ricky, give us the lowdown on the HEAVYWEIGHT bout, Rafa vs Delpo….
Djokovic plays first, so he goes up first!
#Logic
#SimmerDown
#BestForLast
If an unfit Monfils could give Novak such a tuff time, why are we not expecting Tsonga to also?
who is “we” ???
All four of Tignor’s SF picks are still alive:
Semifinals: Djokovic d. Tsonga; Del Potro d. Nadal
Final: Djokovic d. Del Potro
Hope he gets the rest wrong.
Ricky had Ferru, Wawa and Feli in the semis, LOL.
C’mon Ricky, you need to be…
#GettinTiggyWidIt
#DoingTheArmchairQBings
those were great picks.
#PlayersFaultsNotMine
you Ricky mainly..
Tiggy’s picks were bad.
#HeJustGotLucky
#DaftPunk
Soon Fed’s ranking is gonna match the number on my avatar, no?
#JustSayin’
#TooSoon???
djo in 3
I think it’s Djoker in three sets. If Monfils could get a set off Djoker, why can’t Tsonga? He’s been playing well. It all depends on whether Tsonga can bring his best game and be mentally strong.
Djoker doesn’t look unbeatable.
Djoker is going to pepper Tsonga’s BH, Tsonga will get frustrated and go for too much……..and crumble.
No good bringing your best game if you leave your brains in the locker room.
He is such a frustrating player to watch, Tsonga is. I feel he needs a coach who can “reign” in his enthusiasm somewhat………..
#JankoSigh
Watch it RITB. Cant have you adopting his speech mannerisms, Robbie’s that is.
And boom, Djoker takes the first set……………in 34 minutes.
Yawn………
Apart from Djoko’s serve being on song and a very low UF count, he’s dominating court positioning and leaving Tsonga floundering.
#CruiseControl
Interesting. Djokovic has not come into the net at all so far.
No sooner said and what does he do……………
After Djoko took the first set I decided I had better ways to cure my boredom than watch poor Tsonga being demolished and high-tailed it to my local eatery…………will go back home for Rafaaaaaaaaaa!
Following the Djoko/Tsonga match on live scores…………….thank God for Rafa taking pity on my IPad yesterday!
Djoko’s going to hit the fluff off the ball in the next game.
Two sure signs Djoko is feeling tense. a) ranting at the umpire when he (Djoko) was in the wrong and b) reaching 16 ball bounces before serving.
And c) how high he sticks his bottom in the air when waiting to receive serve 🙂
At least Tsonga managed to make the 2nd set more interesting.
Hahaha! Careful ed251137, you will soon be mistaken for……….me! I’ve been accused of being anti-Djoker by some well intentioned folks. Yeah, read about his rant on Twitter. I honestly thnk he is one big loss away to Rafa from a complete meltdown. All the signs are there………..
Agreed. Two matches in a row when he lost the plot on court.
Everything brilliant, everything poor on display from Jo today. Wonder if a coach can teach patience. Doubt it.
Thought Nole looked pretty damn good though.
Jo practically oozes charisma. With his big boy good looks, can you imagine what his marketing cred would be like if he had a tighter game? Think Muhammad Ali and Justin Beiber thrown together………………….
He has to be THE most frustrating player to watch. Well perhaps the 2nd most frustrating…………………. 😉
Lol ed., r u dissing my boy?……;)
^^^^As if…….