Two times a Wimbledon semifinalist, tons more times a grass-court hero, thousands of times a crowd favourite… and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a third round Wimbledon casualty.
However, that should not be the case. At least, not yet.
Right now, a fifth set should be in progress on Court Three. After four sets of booming groundstrokes, massive serves and net approaches, one final mini-battle should be going the distance on the outside arena.
But it’s not. And that is due to more than a lack of light.
You don’t need to know about the match. You don’t need to know about how Ivo Karlovic simply hung hard and tough on serve to rack up three tiebreak wins, or how Jo-Wilfried Tsonga secured the only break of the flat-and-powerful match to win an impressive 6-4 set.
The one point worth knowing about, the most significant of all, came at the end of the fourth set. In that tiebreak, the serves were defended with as much fierce protectiveness as in the many games gone by. Ivo Karlovic thumped down bombs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won rallies. He also saved match points.
When a set point was his at 8-9, the drama unfolded. His 6’11” frame stretched, Karlovic lunged for a forehand volley. So quick was the impact of the opposing Frenchman’s shot into the racquet head that the detail of the ensuing – and match defining – strike was missed by the umpire.
As Karlovic reached out to his limits to intercept the ball, the spinning sphere bounced first off his racquet face… then off his racquet frame, resulting in a shot that went over the net and won him the point.
Ivo kissed his forefinger and raised his eyes skyward. Was he thanking the heavens that he had escaped the swift moment unspotted and unscathed? Jo-Wilfried Tsonga meanwhile, verging on eagle-eyed, approached the umpire and asked if something had gone on. Upon being told no, he went to get back on with the match. And didn’t win another point.
Post match, Karlovic proved that he was totally aware of his actions by passionately defending them, saying that the two hits “came in one motion so that is legal”. To add effect, he even demonstrated how he had hit the ball.
One motion or not, the ball was struck twice. Should the crucial point really have been allowed in Ivo’s favour?
Poor, cheated Jo, in the meantime, has no option but to put the incident behind him. For a long-time tour member who has had so much success at Wimbledon in the past, the important thing is to forget it and move on as soon as possible.
“I just looked at the umpire,” the World #12 said in press. “He said no. I said ‘Okay, next point’. It’s the job of the umpire to see it. If he can’t see it, I can’t do anything.”
In past weeks, adverts of how outside incidents can affect the outcome of a match have been on display. At the Aegon Open Nottingham, the line calling was abysmal, and precious few players did not either get angry or erupt during the competition. But in the most controversial episode of Wimbledon’s Super Saturday, another method of outside hindrance to the players was displayed. While the most obvious culprit for the rattling of players is the line-calls and non-line-calls, something an umpire doesn’t spot can prove terribly costly, rather than mentally disturbing.
And what the boss says goes. You can challenge a line call, but you can’t make a man see something he did not.
Of course, with the speed of the rally, not all blame can be placed on the umpire’s shoulders. But Ivo Karlovic was right in line with his elevated chair. And not only did Tsonga sense a disturbance in the force, but he took his concerns to the man in charge. A man who passed over the doubts.
One point. One rally. One shot. One winner. One error?
Every person must decide for themselves. In my own eyes, there is this: We are the witnesses. Ivo Karlovic is the offender, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga the victimised. But the Judge made the wrong decision, and left his chair hours ago. When the Giant from Croatia made his case, there was no authority to declare him guilty or innocent – and to change the circumstances.
Forever, into history, one fifth set will never be played. And that is the final set between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Ivo Karlovic, on the 4th of July, 2015.
Who knows what would have happened, had justice reigned. However, looking at the scores of the previous sets, examining Wimbledon history, and considering that the hallowed rules allow no final set tiebreak… it’s a fair guess that the stars would have aligned for the Frenchman.
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