Novak Djokovic has survived his biggest challenge of the French Open so far by beating home crowd favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 5-7 5-7 7-6 at Roland Garros.
Djokovic proved his world number one status in the opening set of the clash by storming to a 6-1 lead in just over 20 minutes with little challenge from the fifth seed.
Despite the Frenchman's encouragement from the home crowd, Tsonga struggled with his backhand and was unable to retain his serve after a nervy start to the quarter-final contest.
While the Serbian looked on course to clinch the second set with ease after going 3-1 up, Tsonga managed to finally grab a foothold in the clash and take the set to a 4-4 draw on games.
Djokovic survived his brief slump and fought back to take the set to a tense 5-5 but after a surge in form, it was Tsonga that began to take control of the court and grab a 7-5 win to go level on sets.
The third set remained a tight affair between the duo with a thrilling sparring session, where Djokovic snatched the first break but Tsonga was able to break back instantly to keep the number one seed on his toes.
While Djokovic displayed a number of impressive forehand shots around the court, the Frenchman had an answer every time and managed to serve his way to a two-to-one lead in the quarter-final.
The fourth set continued by the way of serve, with both competitors executing a number of damaging shots over the net but neither could force a breakthrough in the early stages of the set.
Tsonga had four match points to end the contest but Djokovic survived long enough to force a tie-break, which he then managed to win 8-6 to take the match into a fifth set.
The setback seemed to hurt Tsonga and the Frenchman's misery was felt by all when he allowed his opponent to break his serve in the second game of the fifth set. Tsonga was unable to recover and Djokovic punished the despondent fifth seed by winning the set 6-1 to complete an epic victory.
Danielle Joynson
