| Tsonga stuns Nadal toreach final |
| DATA： 2008-01-25 |
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| France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pumps his fist during his semifinal match against Spain’s Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Thursday.SD-Agencies |
Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic advanced to the women’s title match. Sharapova beat Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1, and Ivanovic lost the first eight games before defeating Daniela Hantuchova 0-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Tsonga, ranked 38th, dispatched his fourth top-15 player at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory. The 22-year-old Tsonga, playing in his fifth tennis Grand Slam, mixed drop shots, volleys and aces to outplay the three- time French Open winner. Seeking to become the second unseeded men’s champion in the professional era, Tsonga will face the winner of the other semifinal between top-ranked Roger Federer and No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the Sunday final.
“I played unbelievable,’’ Tsonga said in a courtside interview to a standing ovation at Rod Laver Arena. “Nothing could stop me. It’s like a dream.’’
(SD-Agencies)