Who was runner-up to Djokovic in the 2008 Australian Open men's singles final?

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was runner-up to Djokovic in the 2008 Australian Open men’s singles final. Djokovic won the match 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(7–2) at Melbourne Park to claim his first Grand Slam title.

Tsonga, an unseeded French player, had been one of the tournament’s great surprises. He defeated four seeded opponents on the way to the final, including Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Djokovic reached the championship match without dropping a set and had beaten defending champion Roger Federer in the last four.

The final was competitive from the start: Tsonga took the opening set, but Djokovic adjusted and won the next two. The fourth set went to a tiebreak, where Djokovic closed out the championship. The victory made him the first Serbian man to win a major singles title.

The final is also notable because neither Federer nor Nadal appeared in it, ending a long stretch of major finals dominated by those two players. Tsonga later reached another Australian Open final in 2021, but did not win a major.