- ATP Tour
Djokovic blows Tsonga away to reach SFs
Novak Djokovic took only 54 minutes to seal his place in the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells after destroying Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3 6-1.
The world No. 1 extended his winning streak to 22 matches and remains unbeaten for the season, with Tsonga hardly in the contest as Djokovic proved dominant from start to finish.
Djokovic, twice a champion at Indian Wells, notched up an eighth straight win over the Frenchman and will face Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals - after the former US Open champion defeated Andy Murray in three sets later in the day.
Tsonga, who prior to the quarter-final had lost his last ten matches against players in the top five, made a positive start to the match, and had to in order to keep up with Djokovic.
He stayed with the Serb right up until the fourth game, before Djokovic decided to put his foot on the gas and assert his authority on the encounter. A break came in the fifth game, and there was nothing Tsonga could do as the reigning Australian Open champion secured the opening set 6-3.
Tsonga was surprisingly flat and was hardly winning any points, but the crowd tried to give him as much support as they could. However, it did not make a difference as Djokovic upped his level once again, gaining an early break in the second set and racing into a 3-0 lead.
The rot was ended by Tsonga when he managed to just about hold serve to get a game on the board at 3-1, but that would prove to be about the only encouraging moment he would get as Djokovic sprinted to the finishing line in less than an hour, demonstrating why is he is the hot favourite to triumph come the end of the week.