Jo-Willy's day is delayed

It wasn't supposed to be this way.
At least that's what a lot of people will lead you to believe.
Throwing the word 'upstart' around like it was going out of style, most of the people talking about the Men's Final at the 2008 Australian Open obviously wanted to write about the out-of-nowhere rise of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the French sensation of Congolese descent.
Unfortunately for them and Tsonga, this was not Jo-Willy's day.
Instead, the young Serbian star Novak Djokovic outlasted Tsonga in a tiebreaker in the fourth set. Without a doubt, if many people had their druthers, Djokovic would have not hoisted the trophy on his first Grand Slam victory last night in Melbourne.
Tsonga, with looks like that of a young Muhammad Ali and the following that of a rock star, was supposed to be anointed as tennis' Next Big Thing with a victory in this unlikely Finals pairing that didn't include the two big names expected — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal.
But the match went to Djokovic, who looked to be on his last legs leading up to the tiebreaker after earlier taking a medical timeout to deal with cramping in his leg. Had the tiebreaker gone the other way and play continued into a fifth set, there was little doubt the fresh-looking Tsonga would dispatch Djokovic.
Worse still, Djokovic is no fan favorite. He made no fans with his persistent bouncing of the tennis ball directly before service, and his willingness to chastise his detractors in the stands did him no favors, either.
But at the end of the day, Djokovic has a Grand Slam victory and Tsonga has a lot more fans.
So what's so wrong with that story line? Wrestling has its heels. And if Tsonga got to be as good as someone like Federer, wouldn't there be a backlash similar to what the NFL's New England Patriots are coming up against, sitting at 18-0 and 60 minutes away from another Super Bowl victory?
Let Djokovic have this victory, love him or hate him. He and Tsonga look like they have a lot of tennis left in them for us to enjoy and debate in the coming years.