Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Shines In Paris

Eclipsing the traditional media darlings, another star exploded onto the scene and now hovers, shining brilliantly over Paris.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his first ATP Masters Series Tournament and brought the trophy home to France.

No Frenchman had won this tournament in Paris since Sebastien Grosjean in 2001.

The French crowds not only backed Tsonga, they lifted and pushed him over the top in his defeat of defending champion David Nalbandian 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Tsonga tracked Nalbandian down in a three-set final at the ATP Paribas Masters that concluded on Sunday with a berth to Shanghai on the line. 

Jo-Wilfried sewed up the No. 8 place in the ATP race, with the other seven already stitched and tied.  It will be Tsonga’s first entry into the season-ending championship tournament.

These were not delicate-looking, slight-framed guys playing tennis today—these were big boys with stocky builds and big-fisted strokes—looking like two farm boys getting ready to bale hay.

Nalbandian is the token meat-and-potatoes guy on tour.  With a casual style and questionable training habits, he is tennis’ everyman—appearing over-indulged during much of the tennis season while carrying an obvious paunch.

That doesn’t slow his game or alter his ability to hit the ball as sweetly as anyone on tour today.  He played brilliant tennis all week, finally ending Murray’s run to the final. 

Robby Koenig calls Nalbandian Mr. October because of his propensity to come to life and play his best tennis in the fall indoor season.

Tsonga, on the other hand, is a young player with a boxer’s build.  He is constantly compared to Muhammad Ali, mainly because of their remarkable physical similarities.

Jo-Wilfried loved this tournament and it showed in every move he made. The crowd exploded with each of the 25 aces he served today.  He was filled with fire and emotion, and he let it all out for the world to see and celebrate.  

It was an intensely contested and highly competitive match from the start. 

Playing at breakneck speed, Tsonga broke Nalbandian early in the first set, with Nalbandian breaking Tsonga at the end of the second set.  They played toe to toe, eye to eye, and stroke for stroke with two blinks along the way.

The third set provided another early break for Tsonga, but Nalbandian never gave up, fighting to the end.

In the last game, Tsonga served leading 5-4.  He could serve out the set and win the match.  Nalbandian carved out a love-40 lead against Tsonga, giving himself three break points. 

Nalbandian could have leveled the set at 5-all, but Tsonga clawed his way back to deuce with some brilliant and courageous play.

At deuce, he served an ace and the crowd erupted again, waiting for the championship point.  Tsonga netted the first serve but managed to get the second serve in play. 

During the brief exchange, Nalbandian netted the ball and a tearful Tsonga captured the victory to the deafening roar of a jubilant French crowd.

Tsonga commented that he was very happy and that the trip to Shanghai was cherry on the cake for his breakout season.  Tsonga had also played in the finals of the Australian Open in January 2008. 

The win will propel him into tennis’ top 10, where he will be joined by Gilles Simon, another Frenchman.  The last time two Frenchmen were in the top 10, it was Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte back in 1988.  Tsonga will move up to No. 7 while Simon moves to No. 9.

As he packs for the trip to Shanghai, Tsonga will be joined by Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and Juan del Potro. 

The season-ending championships begin Nov. 9. It promises to be a very exciting end to a very extraordinary year in tennis.

(photo by Philippe Perusseau/Associated Press)