As the match started it seemed as though Federer had already kicked himself into life, claiming the first game before breaking Tsonga's serve at the first attempt as his opponent found the net, handing the game over to Federer with what would be his only break point of the match. The contest continued on in the way that it would remain for a good time, the players exchanging wins on their own service games, the Swiss eventually claiming the first set 6-3, showing his sublime technique and stylish groundstrokes all along, while covering a significant amount of the court at the same time.
Both Tsonga and Federer refused to budge an inch in the second set, every game going with serve and neither player giving away any chances at break points, the pair were serving impeccably. After twelve games the deadlock was unbroken and thus the game moved into a tie break. The Frenchman served first and immediately gave the mini-break away, volleying long on Federer's service return, and a string of errors handed his more illustrious opponent a 5-0 lead before he eventually fell 7-3.
From there Federer should have pushed on and, initially at least, it looked as if that would happen as the 16 time grand slam champion held his serve in the opening game, taking it to love, but the third game was where the tables began to turn. A point up with an advantage Tsonga proceeded to hit a sweet forehand pass down the line which, under review at the behest of Federer, was shown to have just caught the outside of the line. Yet more service games were shared before Tsonga served out the set with Federer unable to return a sharp serve.
The fourth set took a similar path, Federer holding with a love game before being broken the next time he was up to serve, Tsonga having to wait until his third bite at the cherry to secure the break. With Federer the man who was now being pushed from pillar to post the match was starting to slip from his grasp and, despite the occasional flash of brilliance, he was beginning to be made to look rather ordinary, two consecutive aces seeing Tsonga once again take the set on his own serve.
In the final set the break of Federer's serve came swiftly, the Swiss finding the net to hand the opening game to Tsonga, and, in all honesty, it never once looked as though the third seed would earn that break back. It took only one attempt for the Frenchman to take the match, in the tenth and final game of the fifth set four errors from Federer gave the match to Tsonga, handing him his first ever place in the final four at SW19. It was a sad end to Federer's bid for a record equalling seventh Wimbledon title as the power in the armory the 19th ranked player coupled with an unusual number of inaccuracies off of his own racket secured his defeat.
Tsonga will now go on to face Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, the Serbian dispatching 18 year old Bernard Tomic in four sets. The record between Tsonga and Djokovic currently stands at five wins out of seven for the French star, including their last meeting, a five set victory in the 2010 Australian Open, a venue that also saw the two play in Tsonga's only grand slam final, Djokovic coming out on top in 2008. The upcoming match will also be their first away from the hard courts.
If Tsonga can continue from where he left off you would be foolish to put a wad of money up against him. Djookovic may have been in spectacular form this year but Tsonga is on a great run of his own having also reached the final of the Queen's Club tournament just a couple of weeks ago while he will also, no doubt, have the centre court crowd on his side.
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