Wimbledon 2011 Results: Is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Now a Fan-Favorite?

No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga certainly had a magical run at Wimbledon. Sure, it ended in a 7-6, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 semifinal loss to No. 2 Novak Djokovic, but Tsonga seemed to enjoy every minute.

As a No. 12 seed, he certainly isn't unknown. Actually, this isn't even his best grand slam run. In 2008, he lost the Australian Open final to Djokovic.

But as we've seen in the past, you don't really need to win to be a crowd favorite. At some point, you probably will need a win for people to keep remembering you, but Tsonga's 2011 performance at Wimbledon has put him in the good graces of tennis fans for a little bit.

Actually, a lot qualifies Tsonga as a crowd favorite. Tsonga is 26 years old and is not a rookie out there by any stretch, but he really has a lot to him to should sustain him as a crowd favorite for a while, and not just at Wimbledon.

Let's look at the Tale of the Tape, if you will.

1. Is he a hometown favorite?

At Wimbledon, no. At the French Open, yes. But that should really only hurt his position with the All-England Club's faithful when he's against Andy Murray.

The British fans have gotten used to watching foreign players win on the grass courts of Wimbledon. Plenty of non-British players have endeared themselves to the fans there.

If he was British, it would be a big deal in getting louder cheers. Still, the fact that he's not will only hurt in select spots.

2. Is he fun to watch?

That's a big yes. Heck, watch his reaction after a point, sometimes it's hard to tell who got the point.

He and Djokovic provided a year's worth of exciting points in one match. Tsonga seems to get to shots that a lot of other players don't even try for. Not only does he try for them, he frequently gets good shots out of them.

This guy's matches are an event, plain and simple. 

3. Does he have a common tormentor?

Ah, this is an underrated quality of a fan favorite. Do they have someone who always thwarts the magical runs?

In the case of Tsonga, he does. In 2008, he was unseeded at the Australian Open, but still made a magic run to the finals.

That run was ended by Djokovic. Tsonga won the first set, but Djokovic shattered the glass slipper after that, winning each of the next three.

Now here, he had a tremendous comeback in the quarterfinals against Roger Federer, who may well be the best player of all time, at Wimbledon or otherwise.

What happened after the quarterfinal? A loss to Djokovic. Now, the fans have one guy that they want to see Tsonga overcome.

4. How does he lose?

This is another important bit. If someone goes against a superior opponent and quits on their match, they will not be well-liked, no matter how magical the run was.

But, if they keep getting up and seem to come back stronger every time, they will have a place in the hearts and minds of fans forever.

Tsonga has done just that. He was down 0-2 to Federer and came back to beat him. The craziest thing about that? Federer didn't play that bad in the last three sets, Tsonga just outplayed him.

Now, look at his semifinal loss to Djokovic. Down 0-2 and a break in the third, he came back to win that set. Nothing seems to phase this guy.

Tsonga clearly stacks up on the Tale of the Tape. In all, his style of play is just so entertaining that his matches have a "must see" quality to them.

He's not robotic. With the top players, it seems as though they don't really react to wins until the finals. Tsonga doesn't take any win for granted. It's just hard to not like him.