Melbourne, Australia - In a Nail biting Match Serbian star Novak Djokovic captured his first Grand Slam event title by overcoming Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday's final at the 2008 Australian Open finals. Djokovic became the first-ever Serbian major singles titlist and claimed a first prize of over $1.2 million.
The third-seeded Djokovic dropped the first set against the upstart Tsonga before settling in for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) victory at Melbourne Park. The high-flying Serb hadn't dropped a set here until Sunday.
Djokovic was rattled in the opening set, as his family spent a good part of the stanza being taunted by surrounding French fans up in the stands. But order was restored when a security detail was sent to calm things down in the vicinity of the Djokovic box.
After dropping the set, the ultra-talented Serb got his bearings to level the fiery match at one set apiece, and a now-focused Djokovic then cruised in the third set before a very tight battle in the fourth at Rod Laver Arena.
Both players held serve throughout the fourth set, which needed to be decided via tiebreak. A key point in the stanza came when Djokovic saved a break point, the first one of the set, in order to grab a 6-5 edge.
In the extra session, Djokovic prevailed in one particular lengthy rally of crushing forehands, which ended when the crowd favorite Tsonga netted one, leaving the slick Serb with a commanding 4-1 lead.
Djokovic went up 5-1 when the underdog Tsonga double-faulted, and the quality match would end three points later, as the Serb converted on his first match point when Tsonga misfired wide with one final forehand. Djokovic dropped to the court on his back before heading to the net to shake hands with the Frenchman. He then headed over to shake hands with his family and tossed a couple of his racquets into the stands.
"First, before I thank everybody in this world, I want to thank everybody in my box who've supported me all the way through, not just these two weeks, all the way in my life," the Serbian said.
"I know the crowd wanted him to win more," Djokovic said of Tsonga. "That's OK, it's alright. I still love you guys, don't worry."
Djokovic needed 3 hours, 6 minutes to prevail, which he did with the help of four service breaks, compared to only two for the excitable Tsonga. The Frenchman also committed six more unforced errors (41-35) than his Serbian counterpart en route to defeat.
The 20-year-old Djokovic, who was treated for a mild hamstring strain while leading 3-2 in the fourth set on Day 14 here, has played in the last two Grand Slam finals and has reached at least the semis in four straight majors.
The 6-foot-2 Belgrade native Djokovic, last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Roger Federer, stunned the mighty Federer in straight sets here on Friday, preventing the super Swiss from reaching an 11th straight Grand Slam final, and is now the third-youngest Aussie Open champion.
Federer and Rafael Nadal had combined to win the previous 11 majors.
Djokovic now owns eight career ATP titles in 11 finals. He was 5-2 in seven title bouts last season.
The 22-year-old, 6-foot-2 Tsonga was appearing in his first-ever ATP-level final, and was the first man since Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten in 1997 to make a Grand Slam final his first career title match.
The Le Mans native Tsonga entered this fortnight ranked 38th in the world and will move up to No. 18. He eliminated four Top-15 players, including the No. 2 Nadal in the semis, en route to the final. Tsonga also took out eighth-seeded fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet, ninth-seeded Brit Andy Murray and 14th- seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Djokovic and Tsonga had never met in an ATP-level match before Sunday.
Tsonga more than doubled his career prize money by claiming $600,000 for his efforts here. He was the first French Aussie Open finalist since Arnaud Clement back in 2001.
France hasn't produced a men's Grand Slam champion since Yannick Noah captured the French Open in 1983, and its last Aussie Open champ was Jean Borotra way back in 1928.
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