Rafael Nadal was dealt a shocking blow yesterday by unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, as Ana Ivanovic staged a stunning comeback to set up an Australian Open final against Maria Sharapova.
The Frenchman, nicknamed Muhammad Ali for his resemblance to the boxing legend, left the second seeded Nadal reeling by his ferocious all-court game and deft touches in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 pounding.
Tsonga has now accounted for four top seeds and will face either world No. 1 Roger Federer or third seed Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday.
PHOTO AFP
The women's crown will go to Serbia's Ivanovic or Russia's Sharapova, both in sizzling form during their semi-finals.
A dogged Ivanovic, the fourth seed, looked dead and buried after going down 6-0 in the first set of her match with ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova, but turned the tables in emphatic fashion to win the next two 6-3, 6-4.
Facing her across the net on tomorrow will be the fifth seed, who fired an ominous warning as she crushed another Serb, fourth seed Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 6-1, who almost withdrew citing injury.
PHOTO: EPA
But the day belonged to 22-year-old Tsonga, who had never before been beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam.
Nadal was helpless in the eye of the onslaught, as everything the 38th ranked Tsonga touched turned to gold.
"It's unbelievable, just amazing, I don't know what to say," Tsonga said. "Today I played unbelievable, nothing could stop me today and I'm just so happy. It's like a dream, I cannot believe it is true. It was my tactic, just to hit every ball and everything was in, so ... what can I say."
On an evening Tsonga will not forget he hit 49 winners, 17 aces and broke Nadal's serve five times, adding the Spaniard's scalp to three other seeds he has claimed -- Andy Murray (9), Richard Gasquet (8) and Mikhail Youzhny (14).
He now has the opportunity to become the first French winner in Australia since Jean Borotra in 1928.
Ivanovic looked like she was wilting in humid conditions with the roof of the Rod Laver Arena closed because of rain earlier in the day, taking 46 minutes to win her first game.
But the 20-year-old recovered after allowing Hantuchova to rattle off eight straight games, cheered on by an ecstatic Melbourne Park crowd.
"She's a tough player and I knew I had to go for my shots early in the rally and it was frustrating because I couldn't make any, she was playing really well," she said. "I tried to stay calm as much as I could but obviously it wasn't easy."
Sharapova is into her second successive Australian decider, and against Jankovic reproduced the stunning form that blew world No. 1 Justine Henin off the court in the quarter-finals.
"I'm really happy I got through and I'm back in the final," said the Russian, who is on a mission to make amends for last year's humiliating loss to Serena Williams in the Australian Open final. "I had the experience going into last year's final and it didn't turn out too good. I'm just glad that I've been able to play such good tennis and I hope I can continue that for another match."
While Sharapova was impressive, she benefited from the early-season injuries that have hindered Jankovic. The Serbian was clearly in pain and needed treatment during the match for a lower back problem.
At one point, she was ready to call it quits.
"I wanted to withdraw, but it was not fair for the crowd. It's a semi-final, so I played as much as I could to finish the match," said the 22-year-old. "And I thought that Maria played very, very well. She deserved to win."
The final men's semi-final between Federer and Djokovic is being played today.
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