Sports | Jo Wilfried Tsonga Unseeded Tsonga Crushes Nadal French phenom roars into Australian Open final in straight set upset By Chip Bayers Posted Jan 24, 2008 4:42 PM CST Copied Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France returns to Spain's Rafael Nadal in a Men's singles semi final match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill) (Associated Press) ESPN's Bonnie Ford called it the "Tsonga Tsunami": a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 wipeout of world #2 Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semifinals which stunned the tennis world Thursday in Melbourne. Using a wide array of shots to score winners from everywhere on the court, Tsonga made Nadal -whose game is built on strength and speed - look weak and slow throughout the night. "I felt like I couldn't do anything wrong, like I wasn't going to make any mistakes, like I could put all the strength I wanted into the ball and I wasn't going to blow it," Tsonga told the French-speaking media after the match. In his postmatch press conference, a humbled Nadal wouldn't call Tsonga "lucky," - but did say his performance "is not his real level. Sure, he can play like this, but not every week!" Read These Next Why the Brightline of Florida is called the 'Death Train.' Trump's new targets for prosecution: Smith, Wray, and Garland This is one very public, visible way to look for love. Next year's COLA increase is up slightly from 2025. Report an error