Im tempted to herald the arrival of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-4 to take his first ever ATP title in Bangkok yesterday.
That win also avenged his AO final loss to Djokovic earlier this year.
That the Frenchman is a serious talent capable of bringing home the biggest scalps in the game must surely now be beyond question.
He's powerful, athletic, possesses a double-handed backhand to rival Safin and to top it all off actually looks graceful at the net! Yes thats right - if he lives up to his promise, (and I've no reason to doubt him) he might actually provide the counter to the baseline brigade many of us have been waiting for.
Not that I don't like baseliners - I wasn't actually a great fan of serve and volley; ok it takes a certain type of stylish and talented player to pull it off but doesn't often make for great viewing.
No I prefer the modern baseline heavy game - its just every now and again you want to see someone at the net who doesn't suddenly look like they're learning to walk again.
Anyway, my only worry for Tsonga is his injury problems. I'm concerned that being such an athletic player will mean he won't fulfill his great potential because he's:
a) either always worried about injuring himself and therefore not giving 100%
b) having to take vast amounts of time off because he's constantly recovering from injuries
Hopefully that won't happen and we'll be treated to many great encounters.
Djokovic image by chut79 distributed under the CC by-nc-sa license
Tsonga image by toga
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