Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended his Masters Cup campaign on a high with an impressive 1-6 7-5 6-1 victory over Novak Djokovic.
Frenchman finishes with a flourish in Shanghai
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ended his Masters Cup campaign on a high with an impressive 1-6 7-5 6-1 victory over Novak Djokovic at the Qi Zhong Stadium.
The comeback victory saved the Frenchman from slumping to three successive defeats, however despite the win, the 23-year-old has been eliminated on his maiden appearance at the event.
The defeat fails to halt Djokovic's charge into the semi-finals, wins over Juan Martin Del Potro and Nikolay Davydenko already ensuring the Serbian's place in the last four.
However, Tsonga's victory wasn't completely meaningless - the Frenchman returns home $100,000 better off and with some crucial ATP ranking points in the bank.
Djokovic started the match as he began the season-ending tournament, a string of brutal groundstrokes seeing him power into a 3-0 lead.
Momentum
The Australian Open champion went on to win the first set 6-1 in just 25 minutes as Tsonga stared down the barrel of a third straight defeat in Shanghai.
However, the Frenchman, who had beaten Djokovic to win his first title in Bangkok in September and again on his way to winning the Paris Masters, battled back admirably in the second set.
With the set poised on a knife-edge at 6-5 to the Frenchman going with serve, Tsonga broke the 21-year-old Serbian to even the match up before prevailing in a third set as one-sided as the first.
With the momentum well and truly with Tsonga in the decider, the world number seven grabbed an early break to take a 3-0 lead, just as Djokovic had done in the opening set.
Another break followed soon after as Tsonga wrapped up the third set in 25 minutes to seal an emphatic comeback.
Djokovic, who beat Tsonga in the Melbourne Park final, will be joined in the semi-finals by Davydenko after the Russian brushed past Del Potro 6-3 6-2.
