Jo Wilfried Tsonga Is One Win Away From The French Open Finals

Written by: Staff on 5th June 2013

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

Jo Wilfried Tsonga Is One Win Away From The French Open Finals

epa03731021 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in action during his quarter final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 04 June 2013. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

Yannick Noah was the last Frenchman to win the Roland Garros title in 1983, and the tournament has spent a fair amount of time celebrating the 30th anniversary of his win.

But not everyone is being nostalgic during the fortnight: France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has reached the semifinals for the first time and has at least a 50-50 chance of gaining the final as he will face fourth seed David Ferrer in the semifinals, a tough opponent but not one whom he would be a substantial underdog against, like he would be if he was facing seven-time champion Rafael Nadal.

Roger Federer, whom Tonga vanquished in the semifinals, said he saw this day coming for his friend Tsonga. The Frenchman has been known as a straight-ahead, attacking player who didn’t understand the vagaries of red clay, but he appears to be past that stage.

“I knew he would be good on clay,” Federer said. “It was important for him to find his right style. I think today he understood. He understands better the way he should work crosscourt, and not to make silly mistakes when you lose in terms of distance and then you’re really behind the baseline. He’s got to be more aggressive. This year the conditions are such that you can be more aggressive.

The 28-year-old Tsonga agrees that he has matured on the surface, but he believes that it is his experience overall that has allowed him to get to this stage. He has pulled off plenty of big wins in the past, including reaching the final of 2008 Australian Open and the semifinals of 2011 Wimbledon, but as of yet he has been unable to string a series of victories over the elite players at the majors that would allow him to lift a Grand Slam crown.

“I know about being too happy about that kind of match is good, but it takes away a lot of energy from you,” he said. Right now what I need to do is to keep focused on what I have to do. The important thing for me is to go further. I’m more mature, but this is quite logical. As I’m getting older years are passing by quickly and I have now more experience day after day.”

Last fall after a year and half without a coach, Tsonga hired Australian Roger Rasheed to head up his campaign. Rasheed had coached his good friend Gael Monfils for three years, so the two already had a relationship. Tsonga said that as of late he has been making the right calls.

“ I made the choice of being alone,” he said. “I decided to practice alone because it was a challenge for me to see how much I love tennis. And making sure I was not trying just to respond to other people’s expectations and that I really wanted it myself. I realized that I just loved tennis, that it was something extraordinary, that I would really want to do that. And after a while I realized it was tough staying alone because, of course, there is the game itself. But there are many other things you have to manage as a tennis player. You have to be on time for practicing every day. You have to eat correctly. You have to sleep well. You need the life of a champion. It’s always useful to have people around you who can help you doing that. I think Roger Rasheed is helping me to be more serious. Also, he can convey his passion for tennis. He loves the game. Also he’s enthusiastic about everything, about tactics, about what is happening on the court, and also physically he’s really pushing me. He wants me to do my best every day.”

Federer, who has won a record 17 Grand Slam titles, knows what it takes to go all the way under almost any condition. The Swiss has never had to play in front of his home country crowd at a major, which can bring tremendous pressure, but he does have a good idea about how one should go about keeping himself in a productive and positive place.

“It’s important is just that Jo keeps on doing what he’s doing, playing offensive tennis, and believe that he can really do it not just the semis but also the finals and let him be carried by the French support,” he said. “Then you hope that things fall into the right place.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: David Ferrer, French Open, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Sports, Tennis News, Tsonga