Novak Djokovic: Defending Champ Will Knock off Tsonga in Australian Semifinals

There's no question Jo-Wilfried Tsonga elevated his game in 2011.

But so did Novak Djokovic, and Tsonga will be no match for him in the semifinals of the Australian Open, where I see the two meeting up.

Tsonga lost his first two matches to Djokovic last season before Djokovic had to withdraw in the Paribas Masters due to a shoulder injury. He was able to battle him at Wimbledon, albeit in a four-set loss, but retired in the third set at the Rogers Cup.

As much as I like Tsonga's game, he hasn't been as dominant in the first two rounds of the Australian Open as I thought he'd be. He beat Ricardo Mello in straight sets in the second round, but not by a wide margin.

As for Djokovic, he looks even better than last year, which is truly frightening. I never thought he could look better than 2011, but it appears that way now. He pulled off a bevy of shots against Santiago Giraldo in the second round, beating Giraldo in a variety of ways. He has dropped just eight games in six sets so far.

Said Djokovic after his win over Giraldo, via Yahoo! Sports:

"

Santiago came out early hitting the ball quite flat. But I knew that, you know, sooner or later he's going to drop the rhythm and I just have to hang in there. I've done a good job.

"

And that's what Djokovic does, even against the best players in the world: He wears them down and waits until their confidence collapses. He did it in his 41-match winning streak last year, and he did it when he won at Wimbledon and the US Open.

I have no doubt that Tsonga will battle Djokovic. He's a warrior out on the court by nature, as he showed in 2011.

But, despite being the No. 6 player in the world, Tsonga won't get past Djokovic.The only thing that figured to stop Djokovic headed into 2012 was his short offseason, but that apparently was no concern for the Serbian.

Look for Djokovic to knock off Tsonga, go onto the final and prove he's undeniably the best player on the planet right now.