Tsonga injury hits France’s Davis Cup hopes
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s 2010 season is over, with the Frenchman forced to pull out of the forthcoming BNP Paribas Masters and the Davis Cup final with a knee injury.
Tsonga’s latest injury, a snapped tendon sustained while playing in Montpellier last week, means France will be without their No. 1 player for their title clash with Serbia from December 3rd to 5th, a situation that surely hits their hopes of being crowned Davis Cup champions for the 10th time in the history of the competition.
"I am dejected because the Davis Cup is a kid's dream. It's the hardest moment of my career along with pulling out of the Olympic Games in 2008," Tsonga told a press conference today as he announced his withdrawal from the Davis Cup.
"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.”
With the world No. 13 out of contention to lead France in the Davis Cup, team captain Guy Forget will be left to choose his team from the likes of 14th ranked Gael Monfils, world No. 27 Richard Gasquet, world No. 35 Michael Llodra, 42nd ranked Julien Benneteau, 52nd ranked Gilles Simond and 73rd ranked Arnaud Clement.
It was Monfils, Llodra, Simon and Clement who led their country to a 5-0 whitewash of Argentina in their semi-final in Lyon during September (when Tsonga was also absent through injury), but as they head to what is fast becoming Serbia’s fortress at the Belgrade Arena for the final, the addition of Tsonga to the team would surely have increased their chances of victory against a side that has world No. 3 Novak Djokovic among their ranks.
The good news for Serbia as they seek their first Davis Cup title this year too is that the US Open runner-up has some handy back-up in the form of top-50 players Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic, with the former showing some good form to win his maiden ATP Tour title at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow during October (notably defeating Tsonga in the second round), while Tipsarevic was the star of Serbia’s 3-2 semi-final win over the Czech Republic in Belgrade, winning his singles rubbers against Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
While France have the advantage of strength in depth in comparison to their title rivals, Tsonga’s absence is without doubt a dent in their Davis Cup aspirations, and could yet prove pivotal to their chances of being crowned champions in 2010.
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