Jubilant Tsonga's Big Week in Toronto

The last 12 months have been pretty dark for the exhuberrant Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Since his heart-breaking defeat to David Ferrer in the semifinals of the French Open last season, the Frenchman battled injuries, poor form, and lack of motivation to eventually drop out of the top 10. But as it often happens in tennis, a victory is all it takes to turn things around.

The Canadian Open—held this year in Toronto—was always one of Jo's favourite ATP stops, so it almost felt like the perfect place to reignite his burning fire and desire. It all started with a 6-2,6-2 win over world No.1, Novak Djokovic, in the fourth round. Tsonga had lost his last 11 straight encounters with the Serb, so the quick dismissal must have tasted sweeeeet. To add to the celebration, Jo stunned Andy Murray in the quarterfinals to record just the second win over the Brit in eleven meetings.

If in other instances he would stumble at the last hurdle, this time Tsonga went all the way defeating rising star Grigor Dimitrov and all-time great, Roger Federer, to lift his second Masters 1000 title (after Paris in 2008).

"I feel good," said a jubilant Tsonga. "I think for the moment I don't realize really what I achieved this week, but it's a big achievement for me.

"It's completely different than before when I won in Paris. In Paris it was the first one, behind my family, all my friends, everybody. Here I just did it with my level, with my game. I played well all week. I beat many good guys. It's a big achievement because I worked really hard to come back from my knee injury last year."

For the first time in his career the Frenchman beat four top 10 players back-to-back to announce his return to the top of his game. Courtesy of the win, he also re-entered the top 10. The summer is heating up and so is Tsonga who could very well be the man to watch at the upcoming US Open. Glad to have you back, Jo!

Tsonga turned tables on his arch-rival, stunning world No.1, Novak Djokovic, 6-2,6-2 in the fourth round.

To add to the celebration, the Frenchman recorded just his second victory over Andy Murray, defeating the Brit 7-6,4-6,6-4 in the quarterfinals.

After withstanding young gun Grigor Dimitrov in the semis, Jo denied Roger Federer another Masters 1000 trophy, topping the all-time great 7-5,7-6 to claim the title in Toronto.

photos: GETTY IMAGES