Tsonga on Song at the Australian Open

2008 was meant to be the year that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga would become a household name among sports lovers. He started off with a bang, beating 9th seed Andy Murray in the first round of the Australian Open.

He then handed Rafael Nadal one of his worst straight-set thrashings on a tennis court, before losing to Djokovich in the final. But while Nadal won the French Open (again!) and Wimbledon for the first time to rise to the No. 1 rank displacing Federer, and Andy Murray became a force to reckon with by the end of the year, a long knee injury lay off almost pushed Tsonga out of the limelight.

After a lacklustre US Open where he lost to Robredo in the 3rd round, Tsonga won the Thai Open by beating Djokovich in the final, followed by a victory in the Paris Masters where he beat Djokovich in the pre-quarters before defeating Nalbandian in the final. That enabled him to qualify for the season-ending finale at Shanghai.

But he didn't get past the round-robin stage, losing to Davydenko of Russia and Argentine sensation Juan Martin Del Potro, before a consolation victory over - you guessed it - Djokovich.

2009 hasn't started off great. Tsonga won a doubles title at Brisbane partnering countryman Marc Gicquel but lost in the quarters to another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet. A back injury forced him out of the next tourney and there were some doubts whether he'd be able to play in the Australian Open.

But those doubts were firmly set aside when he took on Juan Monaco of Argentina in the 1st round. A slow start cost him his first service game but he won 4 in a row to lead 4-2 on his way to a 6-4 win. Tsonga still looked rusty and short of match practice - making several wild shots and committing silly errors.

In the second set, he began to look more assured and jumped to a 4-0 lead before a lapse of concentration allowed Monaco to claw back to 4-3. But the fight ended when he won the set at 6-4.

The third set saw Tsonga truly on song. This exciting all-court player was all over his opponent - hitting 200KM+ serves, vicious forehand winners, dinking drop shots and rushing to the net to put away volleys. One felt sorry for Monaco, currently ranked 43 - getting humiliated in front of a world wide TV audience by a player nicknamed 'Tsunami'. The set score? 6-0!

The opposition will get tougher in the next few rounds and Tsonga will need to tighten up his game. There are few better sights in world tennis today than watching a talented player at his uninhibited best.

In other action, former champion and World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt continued his slide down the rankings, losing a Ist round encounter against 2007 finalist Fernando Gonzales in 5 sets.

And in a David-Goliath 1st rounder, spindly 61st ranked Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan produced the best tennis of his life to outplay burly 10th seed David Nalbandian, also in 5 tough sets.

The Australian Open of 2009 promises to be one of the truly 'open' grand slam events in a long time.

New stars on the tennis horizon

The fast hard courts at Flushing Meadows, NYC have produced some scintillating tennis matches that brought into spotlight upcoming stars and some veteran journeymen.

Marin Cilic from Croatia is one youngster to watch out for. What was evident was a very mature head on top of a still growing body. The explosive power of his serves and forehand were a treat for tennis lovers. He is arguably even better than his fellow countryman Mario Ancic  and provided a stern test for Djokovic before bowing out in 4 sets in 4 hours. If he puts in a little work on his net game, he should be a top 10 player very soon.

Sam Querrey is another very tall and very strong player with a great serve, a powerful forehand and a good net game. He gave Nadal a run for his money and should take away several positives from his 4 set defeat.

Juan Martin del Potro from Argentina won 4 tournaments in a row prior to the US Open and is another one from the young brigade who is very tall and very focused. He lost a tight 4 setter to Andy Murray but the match could have gone either way.

Andy Murray has put in a lot of hard work to improve his fitness and is already a star with two wins over Djokovic this year in the hard court series. His never-say-die attitude helped him to get through some remarkably close matches - particularly the 5 setter against the Austrian, Juergen Melzer.

Among the tour veterans, Mardy Fish had a great run with some excellent wins. His win over Blake and the complete outclassing of Gael Monfils speak volumes about his physical and mental skills. Nadal was just too good for him.

But my vote for the player of the tournament goes to south paw Gil Mueller of Luxembourg. This middle-of-the-road tour regular played some amazing serve-and-volley tennis that reminded me of Greg Rusedski in prime form. His win over Almagro of Spain (another star in the making) showcased some of the best clutch volleys at this Open. It is such a refreshing change to see some one playing an all-court game with great success.

The disappointment of the US Open was Jo Wilfried Tsonga, the Frenchman who had given such a hiding to Nadal at the Australian Open with his serve-and-volley skills before bowing to Djokovic in the final. He may not have fully recovered from his injuries yet and seemed short of match practice.

Amongst the oldies, Leander Paes of India displayed his fitness and strategy by reaching the finals of the Mixed doubles and the Men's doubles. Not bad for some one on the wrong side of 35.