Wrapping up an impressive tournament run and overcoming a nagging hamstring injury, third seed Serbian, Novak Djokovic, came back to defeat the unseeded French phenom, Jo Wilfried Tsonga in four sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2).  With a dazzling exhibition of hard serves and sizzling ground strokes, Djokovic overcame a tender hamstring, which he aggravated in the beginning of the fourth set, to oust the upset king of the Australian open 2008 at the Rod Laver Centre in Melbourne.

A wildly enthusiastic crowd whole-heartedly appreciated the play of both young racket stars.  At 20 years old, Djokovic became the fourth youngest Australian open Champion in a four set match that was filled with contrasting strategies and spell binding suspense.  Entering the Grand Slam event, Tsonga was ranked 38th in the world and at 22 years old has a bright future ahead.

To reach the finals, both players excelled.  Djokovic did not lose a set in defeating German Benjamin Becker, Simone Boletti of Italy, Australian and 19th seeded Lleyton Hewitt, and 5th seeded David Ferrer of Spain.  In the semifinals, Novak played dominating tennis in upsetting top seeded and heavily favored Rodger Federer 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).  Miraculously, Djokovic arrived in the finals without losing a set and seemed well primed to cast aside Jo-Willfried’s unlikely run.

Tsonga, nicknamed Ali for his likeness to Muhammed Ali, notched upset after upset in gaining a berth in the finals.  Tsonga’s great run began early when he stunned the boisterous crowds by knocking off heavily favored and 9th seeded Brit, Andy Murray in four sets in the first round.  Tsonga followed that thrilling win by finishing off American Sam Warburg and Spaniard Guilermo Garcia-Lopez before tackling 8th seeded French counterpart Richard Gasquert in four sets.  Tsonga seemed to gain crowd support and confidence with every upset.  Seemingly unfazed by the notoriety, Tsonga quickly dispatched the14th seeded Russian, Michael Youzhny, in the quarter-finals.

Tsonga’s semifinal match against 2nd seeded Rafael Nadal was one of the highlights of the 2008 tournament.  Tsonga seemed in control as he displayed crafty shots and served steadily in cruising through the flamboyant Nadal in straight sets.

The finals marked the first time Djokovic and Tsonga played each other.  The 22 year old Frenchman had only played 40 ATP matches prior to the Open while the Serb had contested 178 matches in attaining his number three world ranking.

Djokovic started fast breaking Tsonga in the first game of the match.  The crowd seemed uneasy but Tsonga rallied and broke back immediately.  The opening set was hard fought until at 5-4, Djokovic misplayed an overhead and Tsonga converted a drive for break point.  For the set winner, Tsonga rifled a forehand down the line which Djokovic volleyed but was flat-footed with Tsonga’s deft lob winner.  The crowd erupted as Tsonga seized the momentum once again.

The second set took just 39 minutes.  Both players served effectively, but Djokovic’s reduced his unforced errors while applying constant pressure.  But, “Ali” was up to the task.  In the key seventh game, Djokovic used his powerful forehand to record successive points and break the Frenchman.  The set was close, but Tsonga seemed to feel the pressure of Djokovic’s resurgent play.

Djokovic continued his aggressive play in the third set recording an early break to garner a lead he would not relinquish.  Tsonga fought off six set points at 3-5 but could not gain the advantage as the Serb exploded to a 6-3 victory.

After the fourth game of the fourth set, Djokovic summoned his trainer to administer treatment for a strained hamstring.  Tsonga himself seemed a bit battered, but when play resumed, the crowd hoping for extended play, rallied solidly behind the Frenchman who carried play into the tiebreaker.

Djokovic again started fast leaping to a 6-2 lead before serving out the tiebreaker.  Djokovic. Who gained the finals in the U.S. Open in 2007, seemed comfortable as a favorite in his second consecutive Grand Slam finals.  Tsonga, who will rose to 18th ranked in the world, was gracious in defeat admitting to jitters throughout the match.

The match was hard fought.  Djokovic won 136 points while Tsonga won 122.  Djokovic broke serve four times as Tsonga broke twice.  Tsonga’s nerves seemed to contribute to his abnormally high unforced errors tally of 41 compared to Djokovic’s 35.  Perhaps the key to Djokovic’s win was his ability to capitalize on Tsonga’s second serve.  The Serb won 21 of 40 of the Frenchman’s second serves.

While Tsonga served as a crowd pleaser, interacting with the packed house on several occasions, and relishing his success, Djokovic maintained the cool demeanor of an experienced veteran who is clearly headed to even higher rankings and earnings.  Both players intend to return for the Australian open 2009 and the adoring crowds will be waiting.

So much has been written about the rise to the rank Number 3 in the world of Novak Djokovic in 2008, that we tend to forget he is only 22 years old. His only Grand Slam win was the 2008 Australian Open where he beat Tsonga in the final and Federer in the semi final. He went on to win two more singles titles at Indian Wells and in Rome. His next tournament is the Madrid Masters which starts on October 13^th.

Nole as he is known to his family and friends has two tennis playing brothers. Marko who is 17, and Djorje who is 13. Marko played doubles with Nole in the Thailand open last week but lost 6-2, 6-2 to the French duo of Santoro and Tsonga. Novak is not known for his doubles play, he’s actually not very good at all, and maybe its an area he should concentrate on to help improve his net play. Both brothers answered Nole when they were asked who their favourite player was, but young Djorje added that he thought maybe after his brother Ana Ivanovic was his favourite. Smart kid! One thing all three agree on is that chocolate ice cream is their favourite flavour.

Since the Beijing Olympics Novak’s name has been linked with that of glamorous Paraguayan athlete Leryn Franco, the former winner of Miss Bikini Universe and a runner up in the Miss Paraguay contest. Novak claims they are just friends, we all need friends like Leryn, but she attended all his matches in China and coincidentally was court side at the US Open.

For the past 2 years Novak has been coached by former ATP professional Marion Vajda, and he is credited for much of the success that Novak has enjoyed and the meteoritic rise of his star pupil in the world rankings. Novak has been a fixture at the number 3 position behind Nadal and Federer for much of the 2008 season, and has beaten both of them. He has been criticized for his ‘faking injury’ attitude on court, but it has been revealed by people close to him that he was indeed playing in pain during the US Open. As a young player he has played too many tournaments and too many long 5 set matches. He needs to rest at the end of this season to be in good condition to defend his title at the 2009 Australian Open. As the third seeded player he will have the unenviable task of playing Roger Federer in the semi final, a repeat of the 2008 US Open, and if Federer plays as he did in that tournament he may be too tough for Novak to overcome.

Along with fellow Serbian players Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, Novak has become an idol in his home country and an inspiration to thousands of kids who have taken up the game and displaced soccer as the premier game of choice.