Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stunned Rafael Nadal in Thursday's night decisive Group B match to join Roger Federer in the ATP World Tour Finals semi-finals.
Tsonga held his nerve to send the second seed packing with a superb 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3 win, bossing the Spaniard from the back of the court. Nadal's crushing defeat to Roger Federer earlier in the week had clearly given Tsonga plenty of belief and he came out firing, dispatching winners and volleys virtually at will during the opening set.
Nadal clung on to force a tiebreak but Tsonga was always in control, whipping a forehand pass around the Spaniard and producing three inch perfect volleys as he eased through it 7-2.
However Nadal was never going to give up without a fight and he hit back in the second set, finding greater depth and consistency with his groundstrokes and Tsonga was never able to get ahead. Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, the Frenchman suddenly found himself under enormous pressure and a forehand error ensured the match would go to a decider.
With the capacity crowd on the edge of their seats, it was Tsonga who upped his game, producing some outstanding shot-making to breach Nadal's defences. He broke in the third game and when he broke again to lead 5-2, the match was as good as over.
Nerves came into play a little as three double faults saw Nadal recover one of the breaks but a comeback was still a long way off and some crunching forehands saw Tsonga break again to seal victory.
