Swiss Shock

Men's quarter finals day and I moved hotels and hastily had to find another bar where adequate screens displayed the tennis.  I was kindly guided in the correct direction and sat in the company of a smooth brandy and dry ginger ale.

We both awaited the first match - Federer v Tsonga - but before long the brandy had left and it was just  me to view the opening points.  Roger began as he usually does with the authority of a master and Jo-Wilfried I feared may be about to be playing his final 2011 Wimbledon singles match.  

Serving well and backhand in good nick as had been the case all tournament the Swiss star rolled through the first set 6-3 and then for some reason BBC decided to switch matches.  The powers that be must have deemed that one set up meant the end of the ball game and au revoir Tsonga.

Anyway once we tuned back to the Federer clash, knowing the progress score had him leading by two sets to love, the French talent had forced the issue and broken the Swiss serve in set three.  Roger found it impossible then to make inroads on the Tsonga serve and the set proceeded to be Jo-Wilfried's 6-4.

Although Federer did not play badly for the remainder of the match, his normal capacity to hit back at opponents when they have purple patches seemed much diminished, evidenced clearly when Tsonga grasped a single break in the fourth set and converted it also into a set win.  His serve was becoming more potent each time he went to the line and Roger seemed helpless, yet the feeling in the bar overwhelmingly was that this would be Swiss in the end.

The fifth set opening game shocked everyone as Federer suffered an unthinkable loss of serve.  Now Tsonga had victory in the nostrils.  His serving included so many free points through aces and unplayables that even Roger's abilities could not manufacture a group of points worthy of a break or anything resembling one.

While not cruising, it seemed a pleasant sail boat ride to the finish line for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as he dumped Roger Federer from Wimbledon at the quarter final stage.  Two years in a row Roger has left Wimbledon at this point and he is not at all happy.  France is, especially Tsonga who came from two sets down in the match of his life.