Amiable 21-year-old Frenchman Jeremy Chardy kept a birthday promise to play top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in an all-French final of the South African Open after beating second-seeded David Ferrer 1-6 7-6 (11-9) 7-6 (7-4) at Montecasino on Saturday afternoon.
It was a semifinal turnabout by Chardy that provided the shock of the R5-million tournament in steamy, oppressive conditions — made more startling by the fact that the fancied Ferrer, ranked 13th in the world against his opponent’s 61st, had five matchpoints in the second set.
The agitated Spaniard hurled his racket into the net from the baseline like a javelin thrower after frustratingly surrendering the second set and then smashed another racket to smithereens after ultimately losing the match.
In between the destruction, the game produced tennis drama of the highest order as the up-and-coming Chardy staged a remarkable recovery after losing the first set tamely in 27 minutes, and then proceeded to match his rock-solid Spanish opponent and ultimately outplay him with a greater array of flair.
Chardy, who celebrates his 22nd birthday on Thursday, completed the match in astonishing fashion by serving three successive aces after gaining a mini-break in the final-set tiebreaker and then leaving even the quicksilver Ferrer flat-footed on match-point.
It was an admirable exhibition from the relatively unknown fifth-seed and emphasised the conveyor-belt regularity in which France is producing such players — with 14 of them currently ranked in the top 100 in the world and three in the top 20.
Ferrer, for his part, must be wondering how he lost a game that he had hoped would help him restore his position among the world’s top-10 players.
And, in truth, the main reason for his fall from grace might lie in the quality play of his opponent, who demonstrated an ability to produce huge serves when they were most needed and forehands of astonishing poise and power.
In contrast, Tsonga, the Muhammad Ali lookalike and top tournament drawcard, had no problems accounting for surprise semifinalist Frederico Gil in a predictable 6-3 6-4 win — although the urbane Portuguese strokemaker did well enough in the role of a sparring partner. — Sapa