Lown Tennis: Unseeded Ace is on Tsong to Shock Nadal

Jan 24, 06:56 PM

The unseeded Frenchman, who is ranked 38th in the world, was ruthless in their semi-final clash as he posted a 6-2 6-3 6-2 victory in less than two hours.

Tsonga has been the surprise package of the tournament, knocking out Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Youzhny in earlier rounds.

Tsonga will now face either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in Sunday's showpiece.

Meanwhile, Ana Ivanovic produced a stirring comeback from a set down to book a meeting with Maria Sharapova in the women's final.

The fourth-seeded Serb dug deep today to overcome Daniela Hantuchova 0-6 6-3 6-4.

Having being outplayed in the opening eight games of the semi- final, Ivanovic battled back to complete what at one stage looked an unlikely resurgence on the Rod Laver Arena.

A nervous start from Ivanovic saw Hantuchova claim a break in her opening service game before the 24-year-old held serve and broke again to take a 3-0 lead.

Hantuchova held to increase that advantage and Ivanovic's uncertainty with her serve continued as the Slovak raced through the first set to take it 6-0.

Ivanovic's problems continued at the start of the second when she lost her opening service game on a disputed call on break point that saw Hantuchova challenge the line judge, and a replay overruled the original call in her favour.

She consolidated that advantage in her next service game to take a 2-0 lead before Ivanovic finally had some success, holding her serve to chalk up her first game of the match.

That appeared to boost the 20-year-old's confidence and she broke Hantuchova's serve in the next game thanks to a fortuitous net-cord that kept a return in play before her opponent sent the ball long. The next three games went with serve but, with the score at 4-3, Hantuchova double-faulted on break point to hand Ivanovic the upper hand for the first time and she held serve in the next game to take the set 6-3.

Both players held serve during the first five games of the third before Ivanovic found herself facing break point at 30-40 but, after a fierce forehand set up a tense and lengthy deuce, she eventually came through.

The decisive break then came in the ninth game.

Hantuchova was 0-30 down after a double fault and then at 30-40 hit a return that looked long.

Ivanovic challenged a corrected call, but the replay showed the ball was in by the slenderest of margins.

The point was replayed and Ivanovic looked on the ropes as she stretched to make a return near the net, but Hantuchova somehow hit a volley into the net with the court at her mercy.

That proved enough for Ivanovic, who then served out the match to set up a clash with Sharapova.

Fifth seed Sharapova has been in dominant form so far and defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-1 to make it through to a second successive final at Melbourne Park.

"Maria has had a great tournament and beaten Justine Henin, so it is going to be tough," said Ivanovic.

(c) 2008 Evening Chronicle - Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. Lown Tennis: Unseeded Ace is on Tsong to Shock Nadal
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