Bet on Tsonga!
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has just won last week’s Paris Masters Series. He disposed of a number of big names of late, combining athleticism and power. Paris Masters Series triumph brought the young Frenchman the biggest title of his career so far, a ticket to the Tennis Masters Cup and also an entry into the world’s Top 10. Moreover, he could claim for a top five place next season.
Anything Tsonga achieves in Shanghai will be “icing on the cake”, as the 23-year-old said after Sunday’s spectacular success.
Unfortunately for him, Tsonga has been injured early in the 2008 campaign and was forced to undergo knee surgery which kept him out of the French Open and Wimbledon. He might now be a member of the Top 5 if he were not so unlucky.
In Paris his power and athleticism combined brilliantly to beat three of the world’s Top 10. He obtained
some stunning victories against Richard Gasquet, Murray, Mikhail Youzhny and Rafael Nadal.
Tsonga’s style makes him resemble Muhammad Ali in more than just looks. The young Frenchman has already proved himself on hard courts and his best chance of becoming a grand slam champion might be in Melbourne or New York. In Wimbledon, he reached the fourth round on his debut in 2007.
However, what he needs to work on is his clay court game, particularly his second serve, if he is to establish himself at the very top. He might just succeed in improving his clay court game. We should keep in mind that he served 25 aces a match against Nalbandian, who has one of the best returns in the game.
A question still remains unanswered. Can Jo-Wilfried Tsonga keep it going in Shanghai after a long flight and later arrival than the rest?
Begtting : Tsonga is currently trading as fifth favourite at 6.4 behind Federer 2.14, Murray 2.72, Djokovic 3.35 and Nikolay Davydenko 5.1