Youth takes center stage

MELBOURNE, Australia -- The last time a men’s Grand Slam event final featured neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal was the 2005 Australian Open, when Marat Safin beat Lleyton Hewitt.

Three years ago -- an eternity in tennis time.

But the final between No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France -- which began shortly after press time -- is not quite comparable to that Safin-Hewitt final. Safin already had won a Grand Slam event, and Hewitt two, whereas Djokovic is seeking his first Grand Slam title, and Tsonga hasn’t even won a regular tour event.

In some ways, it’s closer to the Gaston Gaudio-Guillermo Coria 2004 French Open final where neither had won a Slam. Gaudio won in a five-set thriller, saving two match points. Since then, Gaudio and Coria have not been back to a Slam final, and that would seem an unlikely future outcome for the likes of the 20-year-old Djokovic and 22-year-old Tsonga, considering their outsized talents.

Djokovic and Tsonga have never played each other. But they have taken turns one-upping each other in Melbourne. Tsonga’s power dazed No. 2 Nadal in the semifinals, and one night later, Djokovic dismissed Federer in straight sets, making it the first time Federer had lost in straight sets at a Slam since the third round of the 2004 French Open against Gustavo Kuerten.

Djokovic hasn’t lost a set in six matches, and Tsonga has become the tournament favorite with his joyful complete game and resemblance to Muhammad Ali. And there is another Ali connection: Tsonga said that his Congo-born father attended the “Rumble in the Jungle” bout between Ali and George Foreman in 1974.

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