Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Currently ranked 7th in the world, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is having the best season he’s had in a while, or at least so far. Only a little over two months into the 2017 season, Tsonga has already won two titles – the ATP250 Marseille tournament, at home, and the ATP500 World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.
Tsonga is already nearing his career-highest ranking of 5th, and marking a solid return to form. With no big injuries, the tall Frenchman has found consistency after a patchy few seasons.
Last year, the World No. 7 finished in the quarter-finals, losing in two tight sets to Novak Djokovic; the Frenchman is likely to see a match against Fabio Fognini in Round 2 – no trouble given the Italian has yet to defeat him on court.
He will have a relatively easy start to the tournament, next likely to face Argentina’s Pablo Cuevas, who has just won his first title of the year at the Rio Open. Cuevas has defeated Tsonga on the only occasion the two have faced off, but on form alone Tsonga should not have a problem.
Tsonga does however have World No. 1 Andy Murray in his quarter, and that will be an uphill task considering the Scot has beaten him in 14 of the pair’s 16 matches – and won each of their last 5 showdowns, most recently at the Erste Bank Vienna Open last year.
But given his momentum so far, and Andy Murray’s lapses, this could well be a reality.
