Brilliant Tsonga

I watched bits – well, I was supposed to be working, you know – of the Tsonga–Nadal Aussie Open semi on the telly this morning and I can truthfully say I have never seen anything quite like it.

Tsonga was overwhelmingly brilliant. It wasn't just a ferociously brutal display of tennis. It was a performance shot through with sudden shafts of subtlety and delicacy, miniaturist meets mugger. It was irresistible.

Nadal is a genuinely frightening player, jaw-droppingly competitive, astoundingly aggressive, a three-time winner of Roland-Garros. Yet he was left flat-footed and bemused throughout. He looked about as good as me.

That said, can Tsonga, notoriously inconsistent, sustain this level of brilliance? Who can say? He has defied all expectations so far. So why not once more? He has nothing to lose, after all, and plenty to gain.

No less pleasing, the wondrous Ana Ivanovic also won her semi today. She plays the sneerily snide Sharapova, a compulsive cheat and full-time moaner, in the final on Saturday.

You have my permission to boo and hiss when Sharapova makes her prissy way on to the court. even more when she goes off for a 'comfort break', which I guarantee she will do if she is losing. No snippy advantage is too small for her not to try to exploit.

Bitch!

That said, because every prediction I have made on this blog has been wrong, I am saying nothing about who will win either the men's or the women's titles.

But I know who I will be supporting.

And it sure as onions won't be the lanky-legs Russkie whiner.