Home » Canada Flashback: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeats Roger Federer in a thrilling final.

For the first time since 2001, Roger Federer failed to regain his customary form in 2013, taking home just one championship. After bouncing back the next year, the Swiss player concluded the 2014 campaign with over 70 victories and five ATP titles, including the Masters 1000 tournaments in Cincinnati and Shanghai.

Additionally, Federer reached five more finals before losing at Wimbledon, Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, and Toronto. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Roger in a hard-fought 7-5, 7-6 loss in the Canada Masters championship match on August 10.

In 16 matches, the Frenchman has defeated the Swiss five times. Jo-Wilfried considers the 2014 Toronto tournament to be one of his best performances. In order to advance to the final, he defeated three top-10 opponents—Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, and Andy Murray—while only dropping service once.

Tsonga’s serve against Roger Federer in the championship match was flawless. He gave the Swiss no break chances and only conceded 15 points after the opening shot. Federer failed to at least extend the match after preserving six out of seven break chances because he was helpless against the opponent’s first serve (taking a pitiful two out of 35 points).

They both had the same number of victories, but Tsonga controlled his shots better after making 18 unforced errors in a row. Roger counted 37, which was too many for a better outcome. In the shortest encounters up to four strokes, Jo-Wilfried defeated Roger 66-57 and earned 14 points more than his opponent.

While nothing separated them in the points after the ninth shot, with four for each, he also had a 22-17 advantage in the mid-range rallies. The first game was won by Tsonga with a forehand winner, and the second was won by Federer with a serve winner.

In those early games, it was crucial for the Frenchman to maintain contact. After launching four winners, he again held at 2-2 and at love in game three.

In Toronto 2014, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Roger Federer.

In game six, Federer battled valiantly and scored three times to tie the score at 3-3 after only 16 minutes.

Jo-first Wilfried’s serve was the only thing that was lacking from his game. In game seven, Federer reached deuce on the return only to be stopped by two booming serves from Tsonga. Tsonga then went up 4-3 and applied pressure to the opposing team.

In game nine, Jo-Wilfried won four service points, and Roger answered with a volley point to tie the score at 5-5. In game 11, the Swiss took a 30-0 lead for their first opportunity in the rematch. Tsonga won the game with a service winner because he had no margin for mistake, forcing Federer to serve to stay in the set.

The first serve break was about to occur after 42 minutes when Federer‘s backhand landed long. After the Swiss made a forehand mistake, he let Tsonga to capitalize on a break opportunity and win the first game 7-5. Roger was unable to decipher Jo-serve, Wilfried’s and the Frenchman held at 15 to clinch the opening point of the second set.

Jo-Wilfried maintained a lead in game five with three victories, and following his opponent’s backhand error a few minutes later, he reached deuce on the return. Federer secured a critical hold by preventing a break opportunity with an ace down the T line.

Jo-Wilfried, however, had no intention of slowing down in his games; he took the lead at 4-3 and hoped for more chances to come back. After Roger’s two mistakes, they entered the following one. The Swiss player increased his chances of a comeback by blocking four break attempts with wins and finishing a long game with an ace.

Tsonga served two service wins to end the ninth game despite having yet to misstep behind the first shot. A few minutes later, on the return, the Frenchman secured the decisive point. After several deuces and Jo-backhand Wilfried’s blunder to tie the match at 5-5, Federer repelled it with a well-planned approach and held.

Tsonga took the lead 6-5 after hitting four winners while displaying no signs of nervousness. In the following game, Federer painted a forehand winner down the line to force a tie break that he had to win. When Roger struck a sloppy backhand in the seventh point, the returner gained the first advantage.

Following those points, Tsonga served two winners and at 6-3 had three match points. When Roger missed a backhand, Jo-Wilfried needed just one more point to win the match. He did so, winning the tiebreaker 7-3 and claiming the first Masters 1000 title since Paris 2008.