Allez!

As mentioned in the post about Yannick Noah, the international flavor of tennis is one of the best things about the sport. France in particular has produced a few of the best black male tennis players over the years, including two who are currently playing right now on the ATP tour. Today, we take a look at the first, a man who I believe almost certainly would have been a major champion had he not been playing in the "Big Four" era.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (the T is silent, for all you new jacks) was born on April 30th, 1985, in Le Mans, France. He is the son of a Congolese handball player and a native Frenchwoman, who met, married, and settled down in France after Jo's father moved to France to try his luck at handball. Jo picked up the sport of tennis at age eight, and eventually progressed through the junior rankings well enough that he won the boys' U.S. Open title in 2003 and was ranked the world's second-best junior player.

Tsonga turned pro in 2004, but, like so many players who have played the sport, seemed to run into a string of injuries thereafter. It wasn't until 2007 that he finally began to make a mark on the professional tour. He received a wildcard into the 2007 Australian Open, and faced Andy Roddick (who was a fixture in the world's top 10 around that time) in the first round. He pushed Roddick through a long first-set tiebreaker and won it, 20-18, and pushed the second set of the match to a tiebreaker as well, but ultimately fell in four sets. Still, his strong form against one of the world's best earned him a lot of accolades, and he carried this momentum through on the Challenger circuit, picking up four titles there. He received a wildcard to the 2007 Wimbledon tournament, and reached the round of 16, falling to his fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet. The 2007 U.S. Open is the first time I can ever recall seeing him play; he reached the third round, where he played an exciting first set against none other than my beloved Rafael Nadal, before falling in straight sets.

Tsonga's 2007 successes left him on the cusp of the world's top 40, but all of that was merely a warmup for what he was to accomplish in 2008's first major. Against all expectations, Tsonga reached the Australian Open final as an unseeded player, defeating the then world number 8 Richard Gasquet in the fourth round, and #14 Mikhail Youzhny in the quarterfinals. In the semis, he faced Rafael Nadal, and *sigh* unlike their previous encounter at the U.S. Open just five months prior, Tsonga CRUSHED Nadal, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. The four semifinalists that year were Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Jo - myself and many others were expecting the first Fedal final to take place Down Under that year, but it was not to be - instead, we got the complete opposite. (This was during my younger years, when I would take every Rafa loss super personally - I'm over that these days, but this one stung for a while.) Tsonga became the first male player of black descent to reach a major final since Mal Washington (WHO YOU SHOULD FOLLOW ON TWITTER) made the Wimbledon final in 1996. He faced the emerging Novak Djokovic, who had gotten himself to #3 in the world on the heels of a strong 2007 campaign, and who was bidding for his first major title. Tsonga started the match well, winning the first set, but eventually fell in four sets; to date, he is the last male of black descent from any country to make a Grand Slam final.

After this big breakthrough, big things were expected of Tsonga, but I think few could have expected the virtual hegemony that the Big Four ended up having over the sport for the next few years. Other players have had some success (Stan Wawrinka most notably), but the vast majority of the majors over the past decade or so have been split amongst four men (and yes, I include Andy Murray as part the "Big Four"). Granted, Tsonga has continued to have an excellent career; he's won 12 career singles titles, has reached five additional Grand Slam semifinals (countless other quarterfinal runs, as well), and usually seems to be a fixture in the second week of majors, even as he has headed north of age 30. Despite the occasional injury problems, which have flared up for Jo even in the best of times, he has finished each year since his 2008 breakthrough in the world's top 20, with a peak of #5 in early 2012. He's also had some very notable matches - to reach the 2011 Wimbledon semis, he came back from two sets down to beat Roger Federer, the first time Roger had ever lost a Grand Slam match when ahead by two sets to love. In the 2012 edition of Roland Garros, Tsonga reached the quarterfinals, and held four match points against Novak Djokovic in the fourth set, but failed to capitalize and lost the match. The very next year at the same tournament, he faced Federer in the quarters and won in straight sets, reaching the semis of his home major for the first time. He's still at it these days, too - he's reached the quarterfinals of the last three majors, including this year's Australian Open just a few weeks ago.

There seems to be just the tiniest bit of separation between Tsonga and the very best in the game; he has shown many times over that he is capable of beating the best in the world when he is firing on all cylinders, and there may yet be major glory waiting for him. He's got all the tools - whether he needs a favorable draw or fate to smile upon him somehow, I'm not sure, but I've always thought that Jo has the game to take home a major. Hey, if Stan Wawrinka, of all people, can transform himself into a major threat, then I don't see why Jo can't have a late-career breakthrough of his own. (That's no shade being thrown at Stan the Man at all - I'm just saying, if you had told me in say, 2010, that Stan would end up winning three majors, I would have laughed you out of the room.) It may happen, it may not; either way, this man has forged a fine career for himself, one that is still continuing to the present day. I believe he also announced late last year that he is going to become a father for the first time, as well - good news all around.