Tsonga can’t climb over Nadal

Stripped to its basics, tennis is no different than a bunch of 6-year-olds playing king of the hill. You get to the top, then you defend your territory.

Which is what it was all about Wednesday, at the Pacific Life Open, when Rafael Nadal sank to his knees after a 3-hour 3-minute match, pounded on his chest and celebrated, along with perhaps 12,000 excited and emotionally drained fans, who had watched on Center Court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

He had just knocked somebody back down his hill, somebody named Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was trying to get to the summit of Nadal Peak for the second time this year.

It had been the best match of the tournament so far, especially because everybody knew that it mattered, and why.

Even though Nadal was fairly casual afterward, the world of tennis was watching. Carefully. And Nadal knew it.

“I say it’s not revenge,” Nadal said, ” … but the truth is, important win.”

Nadal is not No. 1. That’s Roger Federer. Has been since February 2004, and he shows no signs of coming down. If Nadal resides atop K-2, Federer is on Everest.

And then there is Novak Djokovic, now No. 3 and nesting more and more comfortably all the time on his own high hill. Djokovic beat Tsonga in the Australian final, after beating Federer in the semifinals. Tsonga had, surprisingly, taken out Nadal in straight sets in the semifinals.

The way Tsonga played Wednesday in the 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-5 defeat, as well as against countryman Paul-Henri Mathieu on Monday to gain another shot at Nadal, makes it not too big a stretch to see him, maybe by season’s end, residing on tennis’ fourth-tallest peak.

Wednesday’s loss not withstanding, Tsonga has the right stuff.

Nikolay Davydenko of Russia is currently No. 4 and looking lost there. He went out quickly to unranked U.S. player Mardy Fish on Tuesday, and walks around now to constant whispers about just what his involvement was in last year’s strange betting scandal in Poland. The ATP Tour has addressed that firmly, suspending a couple of guys ranked lower than your club pro, and issuing occasional stern comments about how it will not put up with these shenanigans any longer. You can just feel the players quivering with fear.

David Ferrer, a Spaniard who had a nice run at the U.S. Open, is No. 5 and is not likely to ever get a sniff of No. 1 or even No. 2. He doesn’t have the game for much beyond the clay courts and slow hard courts. If he wins at Wimbledon, the sun will not come up the next day.

Andy Roddick, the heartthrob of U.S. tennis, is No. 6 and also well-suited for that spot. He has a tremendous serve and a tremendous forehand. Period. He also, when he isn’t being snippy, has a No. 1-level post match interview. The thing is, you have to beat Federer on the court.

So there appears to be an opening on Hill No. 4 for Tsonga, who has it all – big ground strokes, huge serve, no fear of going to the net when needed, an engaging personality and a competitive spirit.

Nadal, veteran that he is, even though, at 21, he is a year younger than Tsonga, won this time because he broke down that final thing.

Which is what No. 2 is supposed to do to No. 17, headed for No. 4.

They played two tiebreakers, both competitive, and Tsonga got the big breakthrough in the third and was serving for the match at 5-3.

“The normal thing is you lose,” Nadal said, “but you are there, you’re going to have one chance, no?”

Obviously, yes. Nadal broke back and ran off the next three games to win the match.

Hill No. 2 was safe, for the moment.

And Nadal knew why. He was the veteran. When the moving body parts are equal, as they were Wednesday, the tiebreaker goes to the mind.

“The truth is,” Nadal said, “I have more years on the top position. In three years, I win a lot of matches like today.”

Even Tsonga, whose French has not yet converted comfortably into English any more than Nadal’s Spanish has, grudgingly understood.

After Nadal broke back at 5-3, Tsonga said Nadal was “in the good state of mind, so it was difficult for me.”

Tennis will have several moments each year that tell a tale of significance. Most of those moments will be in Grand Slam events and tournaments in the Tennis Masters Series, such as Indian Wells.

Nadal-Tsonga II Wednesday was one of them.

That’s why, no matter how casual he was about it later, Nadal ended up on his knees, pounding his chest.

Body language can speak volumes, especially about tennis hills and slippery slopes.

Bill Dwyre can be reached at bill.dwyre@latimes.com. For previous columns by Dwyre, go to latimes.com/dwyre.