Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
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Thursday, 18, Jun 2009 12:02
Date of birth: 07/04/1985 (Age: 24).
Nationality: French
Height: 6ft 2in
Weight: 200lbs
Plays: Right-handed; two-handed backhand
Turned professional: 2004
Current ATP singles ranking: 9
Best Wimbledon performance: Fourth round - 2007
Grass court pedigree
Next to none, to be perfectly honest.
The three fellow unseeded players he overcame en route to the fourth round at Wimbledon two years ago was the pinnacle of his grass court career, although he did win the Surbiton Challenger in the same year.
At this month's Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Tsonga exited at the second round to eventual winner Tommy Haas.
Wimbledon seeding: 9th
Chances of SW19 success?
Tsonga burst onto the scene at the Australian Open in 2008 when, unseeded, he dispatched Rafael Nadal on his way to the final - only to be beaten by Novak Djokovic.
Almost 18 months later, his barnstorming performances at the Rod Laver Arena remain a career watermark.
The larger-than-life Frenchman, nicknamed the Muhammad Ali of Tennis due to his uncanny resemblance to his hero and boxing great, is a crowd favourite and credited with dragging French tennis out of the doldrums.
But injuries have put paid to serious challenges at the grand slams since then, although he proved his class at the Paris Masters last year.
Prediction: Third round
To avoid becoming the next Marcos Baghdatis, Tsonga needs to put himself in a position where he is regularly reaching the latter stages of the grand slams.
However, the likeable Frenchman's power game suits a hard court and he lacks the range of shots found in the highest echelons of the men's game - so do not expect that process to begin at Wimbledon this year.
Matthew Champion