That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following with us. Do check back later for a full match report.
Djokovic is into the semis after playing 84 games. Surely that must be a record. Nine complete sets to make it to the last four.
Djokovic wins!
Tsonga retires with a knee injury. That’s Djokovic’s third win in five matches here by default. A primrose path to the semis for the top seed.
Updated
Djokovic wins second set!
Second set: Djokovic 6-3, 6-2
Three quick points for Djokovic and he’s got a triple set point. He needs only one as he closes it out with a 118mph ace out wide, his first of the match. This just went from bad to worse for the Frenchman.
The trainer is out on the court working on Tsonga’s left knee. Seems he’s been limping a bit since around the fifth game of this set. Not the best timing for the Frenchman, who is down a set and now a double break. He’s back in his chair now as the trainer wraps gauze below the joint. Djokovic is standing behind the baseline, ball in hand, swinging his arms every which way to stay loose.
Djokovic breaks in seventh game of second set!
Second set: *Djokovic 6-3, 5-2 Tsonga (*denotes next server)
A wonderfully struck lob winner by Djokovic wows the crowd and puts Tsonga down love-30. But he gets it back to 30-all on a forehand volley winner followed by a 118mph ace down the middle (which Djokovic challenges unsuccessfully). Another unforced error by Tsonga gives Djokovic a break-point opportunity, but Tsonga saves it. Deuce. Djokovic makes an unforced error off the backhand side but Tsonga responds with one of his own and we’re back to deuce. A second break-point chance for Djokovic after another Tsonga error but Tsonga snuffs it out. Deuce No3. Tsonga then misses a volley wide and Djokovic will have a third look at a break. This time he makes Tsonga pay – or more accurately Tsonga makes himself pay with his 35th unforced error of the night – and Djokovic has broken this second set wide open. Say nothing of the match itself.
Updated
Second set: Djokovic 6-3, 4-2 Tsonga* (*denotes next server)
Djokovic sprints to 40-love winning the third point with a gorgeous drop-shot winner. That’s nine straight points on his serve. Tsonga pulls one back when Djokovic makes an unforced error from the forehand side, but Tsonga returns the favor with a miscue on the backhand and Djokovic has the hold.
Second set: *Djokovic 6-3, 3-2 Tsonga (*denotes next server)
A bit of pressure for Tsonga at 30-love. He forces Djokovic into an error for game point, but Djokovic hits an overhand smash winner for deuce. From there Tsonga earns the hold when he tries a pass that Djokovic can’t handle followed by an undercooked drop-shot attempt by Djokovic from the baseline.
Second set: Djokovic 6-3, 3-1 Tsonga* (*denotes next server)
A clinical hold at love for Djokovic to back up the break. Tsonga proving uncapable of asking questions for which Djokovic, even slightly off his best, doesn’t have the answers.
Djokovic breaks in third game of second set!
Second set: *Djokovic 6-3, 2-1 Tsonga (*denotes next server)
At 30-all, Tsonga hits a forehand volley winner to make it 40-30 but another unforced error from the backhand side moves it to deuce. Tsonga faults – not the best sign as he’s 1-for-12 on his second serve tonight – but he manages to win the point by forcing Djokovic into a mistake. Djokovic then hits an incredible cross-court forehand winner on the run to return it to deuce, followed by a forehand volley winner to earn a break-point chance. Then Tsonga makes yet another unforced error – his 24th of the match and 14th from the backhand side – and Djokovic has the service break.
Second set: Djokovic 6-3, 1-1 Tsonga* (*denotes next server)
Tsonga forces Djokovic into an error on the opening point but a Djokovic service winner makes it 15-all. The Frenchman pounces on a 78mph second serve and wins the point to make it 15-30. A half-chance here. Two quick points for the Serb give him a game point, but an unforced error makes it 40-30. Both players a bit off their best so far. Another unforced error by Djokovic moves it to deuce, but two easy points give Djokovic the hold.
Second set: *Djokovic 6-3, 0-1 Tsonga (*denotes next server)
Tsonga has left the court between the first set. Doesn’t seem to be an injury, rather a bathroom break. Meanwhile Djokovic sits in his chair and changes shirts. Play resumes. At 15-all, Tsonga overcomes an excellent return by Djokovic and wins the point with an overhand smash. From there Tsonga forces Djokovic into an error then closes out the hold with an ace.
Djokovic wins first set!
First set: Djokovic 6-3 Tsonga
At 15-all, Djokovic rips a cross-court forehand winner from the middle of the court and moves within two points of the first set. A 13-shot rally – the second longest of the match so far – ends with Tsonga sprays a backhand wide. Now Djokovic has two set points. A fan screams out during his first serve. Annoying. But Tsonga pushes a backhand into the net and Djokovic takes the opener in 25 minutes.
Djokovic breaks in eighth game of first set!
First set: *Djokovic 5-3 Tsonga (*denotes next server)
Another double fault followed by an unforced error puts Tsonga in a love-30 hole. The latter came on Tsonga’s second serve: he’s a troubling 0-for-7 on those points so far. He hits a volley winner to make it 15-30, but a cracking forehand from Djokovic into the corner sets up a pair of break-point chances at 15-40. Tsonga saves them both, the latter on a sharply struck forehand winner. But another unforced error by Tsonga gives Djokovic a third look at a break point. This time Djokovic converts when Tsonga nets the return on a dipping passing shot. A crucial break and now Djokovic will serve for the first set.
Tsonga breaks in seventh game of first set!
First set: Djokovic 4-3 Tsonga* (*denotes next server)
A double fault for Djokovic, but consecutive unforced errors by Tsonga make it 30-15. The Frenchman then tries to pass Djokovic and he can’t get it back over. 30-all. Now a blistering forehand winner for Tsonga from the baseline and he will have another look at a break point at 30-40. The crowd swells. A 10-shot rally ends when Tsonga tries to pass a fast-approaching Djokovic and Djokovic clubs a makeable volley into the net. Back on serve in the first.
Djokovic breaks in sixth game of first set!
First set: *Djokovic 4-2 Tsonga (*denotes next server)
Tsonga mixes in back-to-back double faults to open the sixth game and now it’s the Frenchman under pressure. An error on the backhand side makes it love-40 and Djokovic will have three break points. Tsonga saves the first but – oh dear! – he double faults a third time! And Djokovic walks away with one of the easier breaks he’ll ever have.
First set: Djokovic 3-2 Tsonga* (*denotes next server)
Tsonga hits a backhand winner and Djokovic double faults and all of a sudden it’s the world No1 facing the first pressure point of the night love-30 down. He levels it at 30-all with a forehand winner followed by a service winner, but a forced error on the backhand side gives Tsonga his first look at a break point. Djokovic saves it, forcing Tsonga into a forehand error to move it to deuce. Then a pair of unforced errors by Tsonga from the baseline give Djokovic the hold.
First set: *Djokovic 2-2 Tsonga (*denotes next server)
Tsonga makes a backhand error on the opening point to fall behind love-15, but rattles off four quick ones – including a 120mph ace down the middle – for the hold. He’s put nine of his 10 first serves in so far. Early days but it augurs well.
First set: Djokovic 2-1 Tsonga* (*denotes next server)
An easy hold at love for Djokovic, who benefitted from a pair of Tsonga unforced errors before closing it out with a forehand winner to cap an 11-stroke rally. More pressingly, we have a winner in our trivia contest. The question: Name the two players besides Tsonga who have beaten each of the Big Four at majors. Trevor Chilton of Lubbock, Texas, was first with the correct answer: Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych.
First set: *Djokovic 1-1 Tsonga (*denotes next server)
Tsonga wins two quick points, then crushes a 134mph serve down the middle that puts Djokovic on the back foot and forces him into a backhand error. Djokovic pulls one back for 40-15 on a drop-shot winner, but another backhand error by the top seed gives Djokovic the hold. Tsonga’s first serve – he got all five of them in – troubled Djokovic in that game. Will be interesting to see what happens if he can keep it up.
First set: Djokovic 1-0 Tsonga* (*denotes next server)
A strong start by Djokovic, who rattles off three quick points before missing on an inside-out forehand wide. A double fault makes it 40-30, but Tsonga misses on a backhand and the world No1 is on the board first.
Here’s a trivia question for the tennis wonks in the crowd. I’ll send a program from tonight’s match to the first respondent with the correct answer. Email responses here!
Tsonga is one of three players to have beaten each of the Big Four at majors. Who are the other two?
Djokovic played six games in six days, a whopping 38 points in all, to advance from the second round to the fourth. Then came an elementary win over Britain’s Kyle Edmund on Sunday night. A second-set hiccup against first-round opponent Jerzy Janowicz notwithstanding, Tsonga represents Djokovic’s first serious test of the fortnight.
Djokovic is the only player who can prevent a Frenchman from reaching the US Open final. He’s got Tsonga in tonight’s quarter-final with a potential match against Gaël Monfils awaiting in the semis. He’s no doubt for the task.
The top-ranked Serb is 52-1 against French players since sweeping Monfils and Gilles Simon to lead Serbia to the 2010 Davis Cup title, the lone pockmark being a straight-sets loss to Tsonga at the Toronto Masters in 2014. He enters tonight’s match with 15 straight wins against French opponents and 21 in a row at majors.
Hello and welcome to Arthur Ashe Stadium for tonight’s big-ticket quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The world No1 is looking to reach the US Open semi-finals for an incredible 10th consecutive year against France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Djokovic holds a 15-6 lead in the head-to-head series, but all six of Tsonga’s win have come on hard courts. Their most famous meeting? No doubt the 2008 Australian Open final, though Tsonga was able to reverse that result two years later in Melbourne.
Plenty more to come from Queens where a steady mist is falling outside. Thankfully we have a roof now!
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Kevin Mitchell’s preview of tonight’s match.
Novak Djokovic has finally put on his game face. After a faltering start to the tournament against Jerzy Janowicz, then a walkover and a retirement through to the fourth round, where he met and conquered a nervous Kyle Edmund, the world No1 would seem to be ready to go to work against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals on Tuesday as he builds strength and confidence in defence of his US Open title.
Yet the picture is not complete. In the small hours of Monday morning, after beating Edmund in three satisfactory sets, Djokovic was still in denial. In contravention of the visual evidence, he insisted there was nothing wrong with the right elbow he had confessed before the tournament was a concern to him. Two questions into the press conference, he was asked about the treatment to the troubled joint he received from a physiotherapist after being broken for the only time midway through the third set. “No, it was good,” he said. “It was good. Everything was fine.”
It did not seem so, as the physio vigorously massaged the elbow. And, when he returned to the court, it took him a good 10 minutes to regain his composure and rhythm before finishing impressively.
Asked a second time about the elbow, Djokovic said, “I needed a little bit of massage. I like Clay [the physio]. That was a little deal we had before the match.”
So, no pain? “No.” Why call the trainer then? “As I said, I needed a little bit of a massage.”
