Nadal out of Australian Open after Tsonga hammering
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s impressive run at the Australian Open continued when he reached the final in Melbourne at the expense of second seed Rafael Nadal.
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.
And the Frenchman made another flying start today, breaking the world number two in the second game with a crosscourt backhand.
A further break followed in game eight as Tsonga wrapped up the opening set in just 32 minutes, and he continued to rule the roost in the second set, securing another break in the eighth game before serving out to take a two-set lead.
Nadal found himself with three break points in game two of the third set, but Tsonga saved all of them before breaking his opponent again in the very next game.
The Spaniard was unable to find a response, and an unforced error allowed the Frenchman to break again in the seventh game before sealing the win with an ace.
Tsonga will now face either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s showpiece.
