Tsonga Redeems with Home Win

He probably did not have the start of the season he was hoping for, but Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made a menace in front of a cheering crowd to capture his 10th career title in Marseille. 

Instead of defending his Doha title, Tsonga started the year in Perth where he represented his country in the Hopman Cup. Consequently, his first tournament of 2013 was the Australian Open where he went on to reach the quarterfinals. Although he pushed all time great, Roger Federer, to his limit before losing a marathon match, the Frenchman's overall performance was clearly below par. His lack of focus became obvious during a stunning first round defeat in Rotterdam, where he succumbed 7-6 in the decider to unknown Dutchman, Igor Sijsling. 

Jo always performs best on home soil however, so he was eager to get back to winning ways in Marseille, a tournament he won once before, in 2009. He was slow off the blocks though and although he survived Russian Nikolay Davydenko, he ran into deep troubles against the hungry-for-success Aussie, Bernard Tomic, in the quarterfinals. Tomic won the first set and benefitted from 5 chances to close out the match, but Tsonga refused to give in, sealing an epic victory 12-10 in the third set tiebreak. The win provided a huge confidence boost and he went on to crush compatriot Gilles Simon to make the final. Facing Czech Tomas Berdych for the title was no easy task for Jo, as he needed to overcome a negative head-to-head record against an opponent who won three of their past four encounters. With the odds against him, he dropped the first set and looked looked to be headed for a straight sets defeat as Berdych created numerous chances on his serve. The Czech had break point at 5 all and then match point in the tiebreak, but Tsonga found the strength to get himself out of troubles, eventually levelling the dispute. In the decider, he broke at the second time of asking, building an untouchable advantage. He went on to hold serve for the rest of the match to complete a come-from-behind 3-6,7-6,6-4 victory. 

"I only focused on survival," he confessed during the press conference. "Nothing was going my way. He played far better than me in the first part of the match. He was serving well and my position on the court was bad. But I deserve credit because I never gave up. A lot of players would have done so."

Hopefully this win will give him confidence for the season ahead, especially as he is trying to recapture some of his wow factor. After his sensational run to the Australian Open final in 2008, when he announced himself as the next big tennis player, the Frenchman failed to really deliver. Although he enjoyed some pretty consistent results in the Slams, the exuberant Frenchman did not reach another final. A slightly more worrying aspect for him is that although he initially seemed to possess an advantage over the likes of Djokovic,  Murray, or Nadal, he watched as their careers took off while his stagnated. Since 2008, Novak won six Slams, Nadal eight, while Murray became a Grand Slam champion after his success at the Flushing Meadows last year. If he can close the gap on these players, Tsonga has a pretty strong chance of becoming France's long-awaited Grand Slam winner. You go Jo!

Exuberant Jo delighted the Marseille crowd coming from behind to win his 10th career title. He saved a match point before eventually subduing Czech nemesis, Tomas Berdych, 3-6,7-6,6-4.

photos: Yohan Brandt