Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had one more surprise in his bag of upsets, beating second seeded Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) to cap a scintillating march to the Rogers Cup title on Sunday.
After knocking off world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round, taking out twice champion and eighth seed Andy Murray in the quarters and seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov in the semis, Tsonga denied 17-time Grand Slam winner Federer a landmark 80th career title.
"I played well all this week, I beat many good guys," said Tsonga. "It's a big achievement because I worked really hard to come back from my knee injury last year. "Unfortunately there is no secret...behind this there is a lot of work.
"I'm waiting for this since couple of months now. I was looking for my best level, today I had it and it's great."
Certainly there was no disputing that Tsonga's win was well-deserved, the 13th seeded Frenchman's hit list including players who had won seven of the last 10 Canadian titles (Djokovic 2012, 2011, 2007; Murray 2010, 2009 and Federer 2004, 2006).
It marked the first time since 2002 that a player had beaten the four top seeds to win a Masters series event.
"He beat great players along the way and backed it up with another great final," said Federer, who turned 33 on Friday and had been hoping to celebrate his birthday by lifting the trophy. "No excuses. I think he played really solid and well when he had to.”
In 16 career meetings Tsonga had beatenthe Swiss maestro just five times but three came on the Canadian hard courts.
In a week of superb performances, Tsonga may have saved his best for last, the second seeded Swiss unable to manage a single break chance the entire match.
Federer did not allow Tsonga many break opportunities himself but the one he did, in the first set, was all the Frenchman needed converting the chance to clinch the set and a 1-0 lead.
Play remained tight in the second with no break points, the set going to a tie-break won by Tsonga, who took four straight points after the breaker had been deadlocked at 3-3
Radwanska takes title
Agnieszka Radwanska tamed Venus Williams 6-4, 6-2 to win the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Sunday, the third seeded Pole setting herself up as a player to watch at the US Open.
The first win of the season for Radwanska, it provided a timely jolt of confidence going into Flushing Meadows and the year's final Grand Slam with 11 of her 14 career titles having come on hard courts.
"One of my biggest title," said Radwanska, who has registered a long line of firsts for tennis in her country, including Poland's first Grand Slam finalist and first Pole to win a WTA Tour title. "As you can see in the draw had pretty all top players. So very, very special title for me.
"I think she (Williams) played great tennis whole week, playing and beating a lot of good players on the way to the final.”
Assembly Elections 2021 | Catch all the news updates here
Deccan Herald News now on Telegram - Click here to subscribe
