Mr. Chip & Charge

• From a Grinder on the Challenger Circuit to a Grand Slam Finalist

  2008-01-31 12:14:00
  

  By now, every news media in the world has reported on the story of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s incredible rise in the world of tennis. Hopefully, I can add something new with my own angle. My first live encounter with Tsonga was at Roland Garros in 2002. Having an interest for international junior tennis, I had heard about the promising Frenchman and his success on the junior tour. But as I didn’t have a clue about his style of play or appearance on the court, I was very eager to catch a climpse of him and most importantly his doubles partner Richard Gasquet.
  
  There was Gasquet-mania at Roland Garros that year, after the 15-year olds breakthrough at Monte Carlo earlier that spring. Now, at just 16, he had pushed eventual champion Albert Costa to four sets in the men’s singles, and there was no limit to the expectations by the French media. As a result, I was not the only one who wanted to watch Tsonga/Gasquet take on the experienced duo of W.Black/Ullyett on one of the outside courts. As expected, the youngsters were no match for the Zimbabwean tandem who won in straight sets. My impressions of Tsonga that day were basically:
  1) that he was a very big guy
  2) that he had a big serve and forehand
  3) that he looked like someone who had not grown into his body and moved in a clumsy way
  
  Off court, I saw him hanging out with his buddy Gael Monfils, who I watched as he lost to Brian Dabul in the junior singles. Soon, it appeared that the French trio born 85-86 of Gasquet, Tsonga and Monfils could be the future of French tennis. Monfils ended up as world junior champion in 2004, after winning three out of four Slams. His rise was fast up the ATP rankings until injuries and a lack of mental ability on the court made it all come to a halt.
  
  Gasquet seemed to suffer under the immense pressure and experienced a few seasons without any apparent progress. But in 2005 it all clicked for the so called “Baby Federer” (just by calling him that you are putting way too much pressure on any kid) who finished the year in the Top 20. The only guy in the trio who never seemed to break through was Tsonga. Every time he was about to make his move, he suffered another setback with an injury. Considering that he was beating players such as Carlos Moya, Mario Ancic and Xavier Malisse already during the fall of 2004, it is amazing that it took him until July 2007 to crack the Top 100.
  
  It’s not every day you see someone breaking into that group by reaching the 4th round at Wimbledon. Since then, he hasn’t hit the brakes once and this week entered the Top 20 before his buddy Gael Monfils, who was ranked 170 spots above him a year ago. It feels as if the progress an injury-free Tsonga would have made gradually since 2004 now all has happened within a year. I’m not going to forget the sight of seeing him trying to find somewhere to stand to watch the action at Roland Garros last year, with no one paying any special attention. The tournament where he was not even given a Wild Card. In a few months, he will be playing in front of a packed house on either Philippe Chatrier or Suzanne Lenglen.
  
  A year has passed in the life of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. From a grinder on the Challenger circuit to a Grand Slam finalist.

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