Tsonga Feels Pressure To Play And Keep Up Ranking

Written by: Staff on 31st August 2012

Tsonga Feels Pressure To Play And Keep Up Ranking

epa03375990 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France hits a return to Martin Klizan of Slovakia on the fourth day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 30 August 2012. The US Open runs through Sunday 09 September 2012. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH |

The ATP rankings requirements force Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to play more events than he wants, the Frenchman indicated after losing in the second round of the US Open.

Like many players, Tsonga has had a busy summer. He played the Olympics and Toronto Masters back-to-back and was scheduled to play the Cincinnati Masters the following week before pulling out after hurting his knee in an accident off the court. He then took a wildcard into Winston-Salem last week, right before the US Open began. “We have to play every week,” he said. “I’m not a machine. Sometimes I’m tired, sometimes not. Sometimes in good shape, sometimes not.”

Tsonga attributed his heavy schedule to rules that require players to play all the Grand Slams, Masters Series and six smaller tournaments or get zero points for that event in their rankings. He said he feels pressure to participate in the same number of tournaments as players ranked close to him in order to keep his No. 6 spot.

“You always ask me about my ranking and if you’re 4 or 5, but to be at this rank I have to be competitive with the other guys who play all week,” he said. “And the new rules of the ATP where there is like six tournaments, 250 [or 500], who count, it’s very bad for me. Because all the player who all play this tournament pass me if I don’t play them. So I have to play.”

While Tsonga feels pressure to keep plugging, none of tennis’s Big 4 play the same heavy schedule.

” I have to play because I’m not Federer, not Djokovic, and if I want keep my ranking and not play these guys in round of 16, I have to play these tournament” Tsonga said.

Topics: American tennis news, Atp, French tennis news, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Sports, Tennis News, US Open 2012