Australian Open 2019: Novak Djokovic beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach third round

Last updated on 17 January 2019.From the section Tennis42

Australian Open 2019
Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 14-27 January
Coverage: Daily live commentaries on the BBC Sport website, listen to Tennis Breakfast daily from 07:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and watch highlights on BBC TV and online from 19 January.

World number one Novak Djokovic reached the Australian Open third round with a straight-set win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The six-time champion in Melbourne beat the 33-year-old Frenchman 6-3 7-5 6-4.

Tsonga, whose ranking has fallen to 177 after a knee injury restricted him to 12 matches in 2018, showed flashes of his ability but the Serb, 31, was always in control.

Djokovic faces 19-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the 25th seed, next.

The match against Tsonga was a repeat of the 2008 final in Melbourne, which the Serb won in four sets to secure his first Grand Slam title.

"You could feel the tension on court at the beginning. We felt a lot of emotion and tried to play a great game," said Djokovic.

"It's always tough to play Jo. He has struggled with injury and his ranking doesn't do him justice in my eyes."

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42 comments

Comment posted by andrewm8173, at 14:00 17 Jan 2019
Although the score may not suggest, quite surprised by how well Tsonga played. He has some serve when it works for him! Then again you have possibly the best returner of all time in front of you
Comment posted by Christo, at 14:17 17 Jan 2019
Good win for Djoko, good to see him looking healthy and the aspects of his game which are the key components to his game were working well today. Was always in control when he needed to be.

As for Tsonga, good to see him regaining formal after a lengthy lay off, both at Brisbane and here. It bodes well for the season and hopefully he can make progress towards the top 20.
Comment posted by chanasnakepit, at 14:21 17 Jan 2019
Djokovic is class!! He's come back even better after injury!!! Odds on to win it!
Comment posted by caroline, at 14:08 17 Jan 2019
Tsonga returning to some form, which is good to see after all his injuries.
Comment posted by sportisbent, at 18:38 17 Jan 2019
Djokovic is the only one to have positive head to head record against all the others.

25-11 v Murray
27-25 v Nadal
25-22 v Federa

So certainly the greatest in his own time. Which is all you can really be.
Comment posted by U17437531, at 18:07 17 Jan 2019
Novak is the only player to have held all 4 Slams at once, if he wins this, he only needs the French to have done it twice. That'll be unbelievable. Neither Fed or Nadal have done it once. Novaks level is simply higher than theirs and quite a few ppl can't accept it through their blinkered romanticised loyalty. But fact is, if he's firing, they're fighting for 2nd place.
Comment posted by ilikemaths, at 14:25 17 Jan 2019
I could quite easily see Novak having 18 slams by the end of this year, and just two behind Roger 🍾
Comment posted by Dystopia, at 16:26 17 Jan 2019
I really hope one of the NewGen breaks through this year to keep tennis fresh for a new generation of viewers. Can't believe the top three (Feds, Nadal, Nole) are still the ones to beat at Slams! I guess this just shows how good they are in probably the most competitive era there has ever been which shows how hard Murray, Stan, Delpo and Cilic had to be just to get some Slams
Comment posted by Pope, at 15:00 17 Jan 2019
Djokovic is the GOAT - vote up to agree, down to disagree
Comment posted by John82, at 15:43 17 Jan 2019
Novak will win this in this form. He sort of reminds me of Michael Van Gerwen in terms of top sporting ability and the way he mercilessly dispatches his opponents.
Comment posted by caroline, at 19:04 18 Jan 2019
keep it real@ 'Djokovic ouses class, panache, style, determination, fitness and mental strength.'
Laughingly tranparent trolling at its worst.
Comment posted by U17159144, at 08:18 18 Jan 2019
36 simple fact Novak and Roger have won 1 French open each and between them they have only beaten Nadal once in Paris and Nadal was not at full fitness then
All them have accumulated a large no of titles at one slam so not really a valid point
Comment posted by thedegenerate, at 14:22 17 Jan 2019
@5. Posted by Unbiased Pundit on

Not a sport
____________________

So's your face.
Comment posted by caroline, at 19:01 18 Jan 2019
keep it real: You sound like a glory-hunter. Only interested in the exploits of the 'big 3' and quite dismissive of all other players.
How pathetic. Real tennis fans enjoy many players and even those who don't ever win slams are still worth watching. You are clearly missing so much I almost feel sorry for you.
Comment posted by grandlb, at 08:16 18 Jan 2019
Djokovic is class ."Serve to win" book will explain more about him.brilliant
Comment posted by U17447848, at 06:44 18 Jan 2019
Djokovic could get to 20 plus slams.

Adds perspective to how good the big 3 are compared to the rest.

Alternatively it shows how poor a standard it is outside of the big 3
Comment posted by U17447848, at 19:26 17 Jan 2019
Djokovic ouses class, panache, style, determination, fitness and mental strength.

I wish Britain could produce a player nearly as good as this
Comment posted by U17437531, at 07:12 18 Jan 2019
Simple fact is if you remove Nadals French Open titles accumulated all on one surface, it's quite a meagre haul really. Oy a little better than Andy Murray. Novak obliterating him (embarrassingly so I might add) on the red clay in 2016 pretty much confirmed that he was a level above.
Comment posted by North Patrol, at 21:36 17 Jan 2019
You are throwing tantrum right now.
Your "i cant stand" comment is even worse than someone breaking racket after loosing a point in heated game.
Why?
Because you have nothing to do with Novak or Andy or anyone in the sport, yet you choose express your hate without anyone asking you about your opinion.

Nole might not be the best ever, but sure is close enough.
Comment posted by Tennis11, at 19:44 17 Jan 2019
Djokovic did well to beat Tsonga in 3. Glad to see Tsonga is back. Some say they hope for a Nextgen winner. Hold your horses folks because the Big 3 are still in town and am hoping for more records to fall. If Djoko or Fed could win a 7th AO title that would be brilliant but certainly Djoko is the man to beat as the best player on the planet. Shapovalov will be no pushover though.