Jo-Wilfried Tsonga revealed that the 2008 Australian Open final loss against Novak Djokovic stayed on his mind for a long time as he searched for an answer. Why did he lose that match and then beat the Serb in his next five matches?.
In the 2008 Australian Open final, Tsonga got off to a positive start by winning the first set before Djokovic came back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2). Tsonga then beat Djokovic in their next five meetings, but never played in a Grand Slam final again.
«But this final served me well and helped me. The match, the experience. After that, I’m going to win the Masters 1000 in Bercy at the end of the year. I’m going to beat Djokovic that week, by the way.» The problem is that I really analyzed this finale properly too late.
They tell you that it is the technical, physical, mental side. But by analyzing each point, by listening to things from the outside, you end up getting bogged down. Sometimes things are much simpler than that. All my career I’ve been wondering why.
Why did I lose that final when I beat him five times in a row after that? What happened? You never stop thinking. You try, you fall, you get up, you keep going, it’s part of a player’s career. So this final is part of mine,» Tsonga wrote for eurosport.
Tsonga had more heartbreaking losses against Djokovic
In the summer of 2011, Tsonga reached the Wimbledon semifinal before losing to Djokovic in four sets. The following year, Tsonga missed four match points against Djokovic in their 2012 French Open quarterfinal meeting.
After the 2008 Australian Open final, Tsonga won five straight matches against Djokovic and took a 5-1 head-to-head lead. But after those five wins, Tsonga didn’t really enjoy much success against Djokovic for the rest of his career.
In the end, Djokovic nullified their head-to-head entirely and finished with a 17-6 record against Tsonga.
