Jo-Wilfried Tsonga suffers complications from knee injury, drops out for the year
French Number 1, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has been forced to drop out for the rest of this tennis season as a consequence of a knee injury. Knocking him out of next week’s Paris Masters as well as eliminating him as a player from France’s Davis Cup team, which
is slated to play the premier event’s final match next month, in a tournament decider against Serbia, Novak Djokovic’s country and his home team.
The player first rose to fame in 2008, at the Australian Open early in the year. He was an unseeded player, but managed to reach the final by defeating four seeded players on his way.
One of his career’s most major achievements is the defeat of current World Number 1, Spanish player Rafael Nadal, in straight sets. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.
The World number 13 sustained an injury earlier this year at Wimbledon, hurting his left knee. While apparently it had healed, the injury returned to sabotage Tsonga’s semi final match against compatriot and Davis Cup teammate Gael Monfils. Tsonga had already
spent three months out of the game in the summer to have the injury operated upon, and his return to the court only happened in October at the Tokyo tournament.
This match was held at last week’s tournament, Open Sud de France, where Tsonga was second seed and Monfils was third. He lost the match with a final score line of 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 4-6. Before this, he managed to defeat Frederico Gil and Gilles Simon in the
second round and quarterfinals respectively.
Gael Monfils later went on to win the title by defeating fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic in the final. The World Number 14 will now be leading the French team into the Davis Cup final, to be held in Belgrade from 3
December to 5 December. Other possible team players include Gilles Simon or Richard Gasquet as contenders for the remaining singles slot.
The aggravation of his injury and its consequences has been a bitter blow for Tsonga. He had had plans to participate in the Paris Masters, where he would have been defending his 2009 title.
When asked about the course of treatment he will be taking to remedy his troublesome knee, the French player says that all that will work for him as a permanent cure is rest. If he does not take it easy, chances are the player will end up permanently damaging
the leg, or being out of commission for many long months.
The 13th-ranked player told reporters on Wednesday, “I will need to have six weeks of complete rest. I could have played by taking loads of anti-inflammatories, but the risk is getting injured for six months. It’s the hardest moment of my career
along with pulling out of the Olympic Games (in) 2008”.
Tsonga’s country also suffered a major blow, which may dictate their chances at the Davis Cup final. The decision has been hard for Tsonga, for him this is a double blow after losing last week’s ATP Montpellier semi final to his fellow countryman, Gael Monfils.
The player expressed his disappointment, saying, “It was not an easy decision to take, as for me it was a childhood dream to play in a Davis Cup final and it leaves me with a lot of regrets and a bitter taste in my mouth. But the doctors told me to stop
and that it would have been dangerous to continue playing. It would not have been worth it to take a huge risk like that”.
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