Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Petsonga is a French tennis player that recently rose to fame by virtue of his performance in the 2008 Australian Open when, as an unseeded player, he reached the final.

To achieve that Tsonga defeated four seeded players along the way, including a straight sets victory over world number 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Tsonga eventually lost to world number 3 Novak Đoković in the final in 4 sets, after winning the first set.

In January 2007, he received a wild card into the 2007 Australian Open, where in only his second senior Grand Slam match he met up with sixth seed Andy Roddick. Tsonga's singles rank at the time was 212 and went on to lose the match.

At Wimbledon 2007, where he was again awarded a wild card, he reached the fourth round  defeating Julien Benneteau, Nicolas Lapentti, and Feliciano López. His run was halted by his countryman and friend, 12th seed Richard Gasquet, in straight sets.

At the 2007 U.S. Open, Tsonga defeated Oscar Hernandez in the first round before beating Tim Henman, which resulted in Henman's last Grand Slam match. He then lost to Rafael Nadal.

Tsonga finished in the Top 50 for the first time ever as he achieved consistent results at ATP and Challenger level play. He had a 14-10 mark in ATP tournaments and he won four Challenger tournaments as he amassed a record of 24-5.

The Frenchman compiled a 9-3 mark in first month of 2008 by reaching the semifinals in Adelaide and his first ATP tour final at the 2008 Australian Open. Right after that tournament his ATP rank was 18th, which he achieved on January 28, 2008. 

Born in Le Mans, Tsonga has mixed heritage having a French mother, Evelyne, and a Congolese father, Didier Tsonga, who moved to France in the 1970s to play handball. He has a cousin Charles N'Zogbia who plays soccer for Newcastle United as a midfielder.

Birthday: April 17, 1985
Birthplace: Le Mans, France
Residence: Le Mans, France
Pro: since 2004