Jo Wilfried Tsonga Biography
17th of April, 1985 may seem just a normal day to most of the world but it was the day when a future tennis great was born. Le Mans, is the birth place of the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Petsonga. Tsonga is actually of mixed decent with a Congolese father (Didier) and a French mother (Evelyne) . Jo’s father actually moved to France during the 1970’s to fulfil his own dreams of becoming a handball great where he eventually met Evelyne and they married.Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has a younger brother (Enzo) who much like Jo has been inspired to play sports and is part of the French basketball program (junior), he also has a elder sister (Sasha) who is less involved with sporting ventures. Coming from a less prestigious background that most him and Gael Monfil’s developed a good friendship from a young age where they enjoyed mimicking all the tennis greats of the past.
As a junior Tsonga’s talent was undisputable, reaching a junior high ranking of number 2 and claiming the US Open title. Tsonga reached 3 other semi-finals of junior grand slam events. Marcus Baghdatis was a huge rival of Jo’s in the junior stage. It was clear by now that Jo-Wilfried was ready for the big stage and in 2004 decided to turn professional.
However despite some early success, there were some seriously troubling times ahead. No matter how well you prepare, or how talented you are sometimes the best laid plans can go to waste (Of Mice and Men). It all started with a herniated disc in the winter of 2004, several doctors had advised him that he may never reach the same level of play again and if he did it would be almost miraculous. But in typical Jo-Wilfried fashion he was not deterred and even though he did manage to play a few tournaments another shoulder ailment did not help the cause at all. After that was properly fixed, yet another shoulder problem aroused, this was becoming tremendously frustrating. With outrageous patience Tsonga waited for these problems to disintegrate but was even more disturbed when he incurred a bad abdominal injury which would re-appear towards the end of 2006. Was he not destined for professional tennis? During the 2004- 2006 period Jo-Wilfried could only play 8 tournaments! He could develop no consistent form but challenged several top players even in his worsened tennis form. What would happen from here? Was his career over?
Ranked number 212 at the start of the 2007, he played against Andy Roddick in the first round of the Australian Open. Most people hadn’t heard of Jo-Wilfried at the time unless they followed his highly successful junior career. Roddick on the other hand was a household name , former world number 1 and winner of the US Open. This didn’t matter to Jo-Wilfried who pushed Roddick all the way. Even though it only went to four sets the first set featured the longest tie break in the history of the Australian Open that finally ended with Jo-Wilfried taking it 20-18. The next set also featured a tie break although not as lengthy with Roddick’s mammoth serve helping him clinch the set. Only recently coming back to the tour visibly affected his play and fitness, JW lost the next 2 sets but showed his sparkling talents, this was probably the first time the tennis world said “Hey, this guy’s got potential!”
The final was highly anticipated and it really was a completely unpredictable affair and although Tsonga broke at the end of the first set to take it with two incredible winners , he couldn’t consistently produce the high quality tennis that had seen him through to the final. Djokovic came out the victor over 4 sets. Even though he failed to convert his first opportunity at a Grand Slam, JW proved his worldly potential and sent a message to the dominant top 3, he’s come to win, and he’s coming to the pinnacle of the game.
After almost suffering a career ruining injury to come back shows real character and determination, but to come back the way Jo-Wilfried has proves that Tsonga has an innate quality to believe “Nothing is Impossible”. This ‘biography’ is not complete; Jo still has so many great things to achieve in and out of the tennis world.
Photos:
Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Jo Wilfried Tsonga
Jo Wilfried Tsonga
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