Live Blogging the French Open

Djokovic vs. Tsonga: And so we have yet another Novak Djokovic-Roger Federer semifinal at a Grand Slam, the eighth time the two have met at this stage of a major tournament. The road to that familiar destination was far more scenic than expected, but Djokovic saved all four match of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s points to win 6-1, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-1. After match point Novak Djokovic gave a double fist-pump and then shook hands. Both men rested in their chairs for a while, the Frenchman with a towel covering his head and face as the appreciative Chatrier crowd chanted his name.

Djokovic vs. Tsonga: There are easier ways to gain momentum than by saving four match points, but I don’t think Novak Djokovic would complain about where he is right now in this match. He holds to open the second set then breaks in the second set to take a 2-0 lead. As Djokovic celebrated, holding his fist up to his box and gritting his teeth, the French crowd let out a sound of unanimous deflation.

After advancing to his 31st career Slam semifinal (tying the record of Jimmy Connors), Roger Federer was very complimentary to Juan Martin del Potro in his on-court interview, saying  “he fought like a hero.” Meanwhile the hero of the French is fighting still, climbing from 0-2 to 4-2 in the tiebreak in large part due to errors off the Djokovic forehand. But Djokovic refused to buckle yet again, leveling the breaker at 4-4 as Tsonga’s play grew increasingly tentative under the circumstances. Tsonga then awkwardly slid into a backhand error to give Djokovic a third straight point and a 5-4 lead. Tsonga missed a forehand return to give Djokovic two set points, and  began pulling at his hair and pleading with the crowd for quiet. The neurosis seemed to pay off, and Tsonga played his most deliberate point in some time, drawing a backhand error from Djokovic and erasing the minibreak. He saved the second with a strong body serve that Djokovic sent long and the breaker was leveled at 6-6. With a total of six set points now gone, the two changed sides. Tsonga immediately gave a minibreak right back to Djokovic with an ill-advised approach to the net, and Djokovic closed out the tiebreak 8-6 as a Tsonga backhand found the net and silenced the crowd. Fifth set coming on Chatrier.

Federer vs. del Potro: On Lenglen, Roger Federerer has survived Juan Martin del Potro, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0, 6-3, completing the seventh such comeback of his career. The two embraced at the net. On Chatrier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had a chance to finish his match at the same time but could not, despite having two more match points. Tsonga squandered his third match point with a forehand smacked into the net at 30-40. Tsonga earned himself an advantage and a fourth match point by winning a long, loud forehand rally by eventually pulling Djokovic out wide with a sharp cross court angle. But Djokovic was up to the challenge again, putting away an overhead smash to save the fourth match point as well.  He held two points later to force a tiebreak, holding up his fist triumphantly as the mist falling on court thickens. Tiebreak now.

Djokovic vs. Tsonga: Novak Djokovic’s bid to win four straight Grand Slams nearly just ended. Serving to stay in the match at 4-5 in the fourth set, Djokovic began with two forehand errors, the first a cross-court whip just wide and the second a down-the-line long. Djokovic dug to 15-30 with a second serve that kicked into Tsonga’s body, but the crowd chanted the Frenchman’s surname between points all the same. A third errant Djokovic forehand clipped the netcord and hopped wide to give Tsonga 15-40 and two match points. Djokovic saved the first with a brave overhead and a forehand volley winner to get to 30-40. With three more big serves, he saved the second as well and leveled the set at 5-5. Tsonga walked back to the baseline to serve and shook his head in disbelief, perhaps to shake out the memory of the missed opportunity.

Conserved or not, not sure how much juice Juan Martin del Potro has left on Lenglen. Federer has broken for a 3-1 lead in the fifth set and looks well on his way to an improbable comback victory from two sets down. That is, of course, if you believe that the word “improbable” can ever apply to tennis that is being played by Roger Federer. On Chatrier, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has toughed out a hold for 5-4, and is now one game from an upset of Novak Djokovic.

At 3-3 in the fourth set on Chatrier, Novak Djokovic landed awkwardly after a return and appeared to badly jam his right knee, possibly hyperextending it. After staying crouched low for several seconds he resumed play and continued on, apparently no worse than before. On Lenglen, Juan Martin del Potro tried to turn the tables on Roger Federer quickly after being bageled in the fourth set,  grabbing a 15-40 lead on Federer’s serve in the opening game of the fifth. But Federer saved them both and held for 1-0 with a clenched fist. del Potro then held for 1-1. It seems fairly clear he had been conserving  energy for this final frame.

Federer vs. del Potro: Something has gone wrong for Juan Martin del Potro on Lenglen. What it is isn’t exactly clear yet, but it’s enough for Roger Federer to have raced to a 25-minute 6-0 fourth set, taking 12 of the last 14 games.  del Potro may have just hit the wall from fatigue; not only did he play 12 games yesterday in the continuation of his win over Tomas Berdych, he had spent the most time on court through four rounds of any of the quarterfinalists, clocking in at over 12 hours. Trainer is back out for his left knee now, which has been wrapped all tournament.

Many a player has crumbled under the pressure of Roger Federer, and Juan Martin del Potro looks well on his way to adding himself to that list. Federer has broken for a 2-0 lead in the fourth set as del Potro’s level of discomfort seems to be growing. Speaking of discomfort, the trainer has come out to attend to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s hand. Doesn’t look to be a serious ailment, more likely a scrape or blister.

Federer vs. del Potro: Roger Federer has continued to speed through the third set, taking it 6-2 in just 30 minutes. It is unclear what was ailing del Potro, but the slight shift in the balance has tilted proceedings significantly in Federer’s favor for the time being. It is entirely possible, however, that del Potro wasn’t trying as hard to win the third as he might have without a two-set lead.
Roger Federer has continued to speed through the third set, taking it 6-2 in just 30 minutes. It is unclear what was ailing del Potro, but the slight shift in the balance has tilted proceedings significantly in Federer’s favor for the time being. It is entirely possible, however, that del Potro wasn’t trying as hard to win the third as he might have without a two-set lead.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a set from ending Novak Djokovic’s bid for fourth consecutive Slam title, taking the third set 7-5 after winning two marathon games to clinch the frame. Tsonga won the set on a short cross-court forehand pass, sending the French crowd to its feet. On Lenglen, Juan Martin del Potro is 28-0 when winning the first two sets in a best-of-five, but Roger Federer has come back from a two-set deficit six times in his career.  Del Potro was visited by the doctor during a changeover but has continued play, now trailing 1-4 in the third set.

Shortly after Roger Federer appeared to yell “Shut up!” at the crowd on Lenglen after a point was disrupted, Novak Djokovic had his own exchange with the French crowd. The crowd, which some commentators generously call “fickle,” began to boo Djokovic as he walked to examine a mark left by a Tsonga serve. He held his arms up in exasperation and wiped away the mark with his shoe to their applause. Meanwhile on Lenglen, Federer has begun his attempt to climb out of a two-set hole as well as possible, racing out to a 3-0 lead in the third set.

Federer vs. del Potro: Second set tiebreak for Federer and del Potro on Lenglen. Federer was able to get the first strikes in the rally in the first two points, moving del Potro from side-to-side behind the baseline. But both points ended with a del Potro forehand laser once the Argentine was able to get his legs underneath him to set up for a shot, and he took an early minibreak for a 2-0 lead. A backhand error from the del Potro racquet drew Federer closer at 2-1, but a backhand slice forced error helped del Potro move to 3-1. An unreturnable serve increased that lead to 4-1 for del Potro. Federer won both points on his serve to pull to 4-3. Federer earned the minibreak back two points later, digging into a long rally and winning it with a forced forehand error by del Potro. Federer even grunted with exertion once during the rally, which should tell you how dire he considered the circumstances. del Potro then won a long rally to give himself two set points at 6-4, and converted the first with a wrong-footing forehand down-the-line to give himself the tiebreak and a two-set lead. Federer is now a set from only his fourth loss before the semifinals at a Slam since 2005.

Juan Martin del Potro broke back to level the second set at 3-3, then held to put himself back in front at 4-3. Federer stumbled again in his next service game. With a short ball setting up for a simple putaway, Roger Federer hits an inexplicably soft forehand right back at del Potro, which the Argentine knocks into the open court for an easy winner. He dug himself out of trouble on game points a few shots later with a deceptive squash shot into the open court that nearly deked del Potro out of his shoes. Level footing again, 4-4.

Two set points for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with Novak Djokovic serving at 5-6. Djokovic saved the first with a patient, measured smash off-the-bounce, and the second with an unreturnable serve. But Tsonga forces a third set point two points later, and prevails in a rally of viciously hooking cross-court forehands. Going four hardly looked likely after the first set, but now momentum is firmly with the Frenchman.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s play has picked up considerably, as has Novak Djokovic’s volume. Grunting in full throat he is still dwarfed by the sound of the French crowd. In a not-so-subtle bit of patriotism, Tsonga is wearing a tricolor outfit in bleu-blanc-et-rouge, perhaps the most overt home-team clothing choice since Jennifer Capriati wore a star-spangled top at the 2004 U.S. Open. A few umbrellas have opened now in Chatrier, but nothing yet that might delay play as the two seem destined for a timebreak. Meanwhile on Lenglen Roger Federer has broken for a 3-2 lead in the second set.

Sudden change on Chatrier. After coasting through a set-and-a-half, Novak Djokovic played one loose service game and Tsonga pounced, breaking for 4-4. Tsonga then held to take his first lead in a set at 5-4. The two are now knotted at 5-5, and the crowd has begun to stir (perthaps for their parapluies–it has begun to drizzle).

Roger Federer had not dropped so much as a set to Juan Martin del Potro in their previous five meetings, but he loses the first set 6-3 after being broken a stunning three times in four service games.  Federer is struggling to find rhythm with his forehand, and has been unable to expose the Argentine’s torpid movement in the slow, damp conditions.

Things have turned around for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Chatrier, if only slightly. He hit two more winners en route to holding for 2-3, bringing his total winner count to four.  His unforced error count has inflated to 18, which still leaves his ratio far from sparkling. Things are far more level on Lenglen, where Juan Martin del Potro has just toughed out a long hold to increase his lead to 5-3. His power still seems to be rushing Federer into an uncharacteristic amount of errors.

Novak Djokovic continues to roll on Chatrier, breaking Tsonga to open the second set. The French crowd is trying to seize on any possible opportunity to rally behind Tsonga, but they have been few and far between. On Lenglen, Roger Federer took advantage of a slightly lax game from del Potro to earn one of his breaks back. He then held to close the gap to 4-3. In the last match Federer and del Potro contested (at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March), del Potro started strong only to be undone by a questionable call early in the first set. How he responds to a different sort of early setback will be telling as to his mindset today.

Meanwhile on Lenglen, Juan Martin del Potro has drawn first blood against Roger Federer, breaking the Swiss 30-year-old in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. del Potro survived a break point in his next service game to hold for 3-1, then stunningly broke again at love to take a 4-1 lead. del Potro has drawn errors off both of Federer’s wings with deep percussive hitting. Federer, who dropped a set in each of his last four matches, has won his last five matches against del Potro in straight sets.

Tsonga not putting up much if any resistance so far, losing the first set 6-1 to Djokovic in only 21 minutes.  Tsonga hit two winners and 12 unforced errors, numbers that won’t win many matches–especially not against the A.T.P. No. 1. Djokovic now two sets from his eighth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.

After routine three holds to open the match, momentum has swung significantly on Chatrier. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played a listless, error-strewn service game to allow Novak Djokovic to break for 3-1, and the Serb consolidated with a hold for 4-1. Tsonga looking significantly more sluggish than perhaps he should considering he only played four games yesterday.