Filed under: Tennis
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulled off the result of the tournament to eliminate world number one Rafael Nadal in the quarter finals of the Aegon Championships at Queen's.And, almost incredibly, he will play British number two James Ward, the world number 216, who came through a nail-biting encounter with fellow outsider Adrian Mannarino.
It was certainly a day of shocks as few would have predicted a few days ago that such a combination of results was even possible.
Tsonga, the big-hitting Frenchman recovered from going a set down to win 6-7 6-4 6-1 as French Open winner Nadal ran out of energy.
The first set, which almost lasted an hour, went to a tie-breaker, which Nadal won 7-3, but the number one seed already looked tired.
As Prime Minister David Cameron watched while munching a packet of crisps, Tsonga played some excellent shots.
He also weighed in with some aces from his hefty serve and then broke the Spaniard to allow him to hold serve and take the second set 6-4.
Tsonga sensed a huge opportunity was there and immediately forged a 2-0 lead in the deciding set, throwing himself around the court in true showman style.
Then he broke the Spaniard again and for once Nadal had nothing in reseve, bowing out with a whimper with just one game in the deciding set.
Over on court one, Ward, the 24-year-old son of a London cab driver, clinched the first set 6-2 against an opponent ranked 54 in the world but the second was much tighter and went to a tie-breaker.
Astonishingly, Mannarino saved six match points before wrapping up the tie-breaker himself to force a decider, which Mr Cameron came over to watch as well.
That too was incredibly tight but again Ward fought like a terrier to get himself back on the brink of glory, saving two break points to lead 5-4.
And when Mannarino found the net while facing yet another match point Ward celebrated joyously to mark a day he will never forget, which had begun when he beat reigning champion Sam Querrey in a third round clash that had been left over from the evening before
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REACTION:
Ward was pleased to have made the last four.
"Obviously it has been the best week of my career so far. I have had a couple of top wins and this is another one. I'm looking forward to playing tomorrow."
Especially after blowing six match points in the tie-breaker
"I didn't even know it was six. I was living every point and it was tough. I got broken at the beginning of the third and to come back like that is pleasing. I had a lot of fight in me and got the job done in the end."
He hadn't been aware of the Prime Minister in tha stands either.
"I wasn't, no. It was a pleasure to play in front of him and, who knows, maybe he will watch tomorrow as well."
Tsonga, the world number 19 was delighted to have beaten the world number one.
"He is the best player in the world at the moment and I am just happy. Of course, that was close to my best because to beat Rafael you have to. I just played great and it was just amazing, the atmosphere. I hope I will play well in the next round.
"For all the match I just tried to stay focused and I did so I'm happy. I will try to recover well and tomorrow we will see what happens."
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