ATP Tour - Tsonga triumphs in Johannesburg

Eurosport - Sun, 08 Feb 16:44:00 2009

Top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won his third ATP title with a 6-4 7-6 triumph over fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in a thrilling South African Open final.

TENNIS 2009 TSONGA - 0

Tsonga, the 23-year-old Le Mans-born son of a French mother and Congolese father, won in Bangkok and Paris last year and succeeded in the revived South African tournament without dropping a set in five matches.

But he was taken to the wire by 21-year-old Chardy from the south-west city of Pau, appearing in his first ATP final after reaching the fourth round of the French Open last year.

"I did a great job this week and am enjoying this moment. I am very happy to have succeeded and look forward to defending my title next year," world number 14 Tsonga told the capacity 3,000 centre-court crowd.

Chardy was sporting in defeat: "I congratulate Jo-Wilfried for a good match and wish him many more successes this year. It was wonderful to reach the final of an ATP event."

The first set went with serve for nine games and then Muhammad Ali-lookalike Tsonga lifted his game to race 40-0 ahead and although Chardy salvaged one point, an unforced error at the net cost him the game and the set.

It was tough on world number 61 Chardy, who shocked second seed David Ferrer of Spain Saturday in a three-set semi-finals thriller, as he created more break points than crowd favourite Tsonga.

The second set followed a similar pattern only this time there was no Tsonga breakthrough and after 12 games with service a tiebreaker was necessary on a warm, slightly overcast afternoon.

Both Frenchmen lost their first service point and then settled into a tense duel that was settled when Tsonga forced Chardy into an error on his service and then held his own for a 7-5 victory.

Tsonga collected $79,000 for winning a championship back on the ATP circuit after a 13-year absence due to a lack of funds while Chardy picked up $41,500.

AFP

Comment 3 - 22 of 22

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  1. OK HE IS UGLY BUT HIS TENNIS IS GREAT.
    ALISON.

    From bloomfield.stephen, on Tue 10 Feb 4:43AM

  2. Gollywog did you say gollywog? You cannot say gollywog­ you gollywog!
    ALISON M.

    From Nicholas, on Tue 10 Feb 2:52AM

  3. i think monfils looks more like a gollywog lol

    From SQUEE, on Tue 10 Feb 1:48AM

  4. Huh??

    From Carol, on Tue 10 Feb 1:20AM

  5. Tsonga's comment was why me ? when it was revealed­ the Thatcher's daughter's comment was directed­ at him. what a shame, the white race are behind the­ change obama wants. ,. Some are respectable when it­ comes to real issues facing humanity but in a­ democratic environment, everything goes and it is­ called human right.
    why me? Poor tsonga, don't­ worry, the french are as racist as the british.

    From Augustine A, on Tue 10 Feb 12:06AM

  6. Recently, I found a hot place --- Tallhub C om ---­ where many tall singles how like sports and chatting­ there. I'm an open minded girl from US, I also like­ discuss sports and love with tall guys on it.

    From Alice S, on Mon 9 Feb 11:18PM

  7. well people shut watch J.Chardy. he is a very good­ player

    From andyvanopslagh, on Mon 9 Feb 5:24PM

  8. Federer and Tsonga are my favorites,I watch tennis­ because of them.

    From iako_kva, on Mon 9 Feb 4:01PM

  9. hi

    From iako_kva, on Mon 9 Feb 3:44PM

  10. I like Tsonga, he is very handsome and good fellow,­ besides he is fantastic player, I wish him all the­ best.

    From iako_kva, on Mon 9 Feb 3:42PM

  11. You are right, I admit he is a good player. Actually,­ Stepanek is uglier.

    From webbski, on Mon 9 Feb 5:59AM

  12. wether he has the ugliest or handsome face in the­ world, tsonga just won a championship. congratulations,­ young man and wishing you many more titles.

    From tankusuleman, on Mon 9 Feb 5:15AM

  13. webbski doest it matter?He wins titles with the ugly­ face,maybe its an advantage bcos it sure might scare­ others to defeat

    From ede o, on Mon 9 Feb 4:53AM

  14. Comment 7 - Webbski - you're drunk.

    From nwwilliams1, on Mon 9 Feb 4:28AM

  15. La fille de l'ex-Premier ministre britannique­ Margaret Thatcher, remerciée par la BBC pour avoir tenu­ des propos racistes, faisait référence au tennisman­ français Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a indiqué un de ses­ collaborateurs dans le tabloïde The Sun de­ samedi.

    Carol Thatcher, 53 ans, a été évincée de­ l'émission d'actualité de la chaîne BBC-1­ "The One Show", à laquelle elle collaborait­ en tant que journaliste, après avoir comparé, après­ l'émission et hors antenne, un tennisman à­ "golliwog", une poupée de chiffon au visage­ noir et aux cheveux hérissés très connue­ outre-Manche.

    Selon le coprésentateur de­ l'émission, Adrian Chiles, cette insulte visait­ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

    "Carol parlait du possible­ vainqueur de l'Open d'Australie" (de­ tennis), raconte M. Chiles dans le Sun. Selon lui,­ Carol Thatcher aurait alors déclaré : "Il ne faut­ pas oublier les frogs" (grenouilles en anglais),­ insulte qui fait référence aux Français. Puis elle a­ ajouté: "Vous savez, cette frog golliwog".­ Selon M. Chiles, Mme Thatcher faisait alors référence à­ Tsonga, qui a perdu fin janvier en quart de finale de­ l'Open d'Australie face à l'Espagnol­ Fernando Verdasco.

    Les commentaires de Carol Thatcher,­ bien que tenus hors antenne, suscitent une vive­ controverse au Royaume-Uni.

    From Jeremy, on Mon 9 Feb 4:27AM

  16. Andy Murray is the Best not any French dude.

    From james.kerr93, on Mon 9 Feb 4:24AM

  17. Congrats Tsonga! @post 7 stop being envious :)

    From Alina, on Mon 9 Feb 4:12AM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Tsonga has the ugliest face on tour

    From webbski, on Mon 9 Feb 3:59AM

  19. Well done Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

    Good riddance Carol­ Thatcher!

    From Tom..., on Mon 9 Feb 2:18AM

  20. LONDON (AFP) – The BBC should apologise to the daughter­ of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher over­ the leaking of her off-air "golliwog"­ comment, her agent insisted Wednesday.

    Carol Thatcher­ was axed from her roving reporter role for "The­ One Show", the main BBC1 channel's daily prime­ time topical programme, for comparing a male tennis­ player to a "golliwog" after filming last­ Thursday's edition.

    British media reports­ suggested the player was either Gael Monfils or­ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, both of France.

    Her agent Ali Gunn­ accused the British Broadcasting Corporation of­ "outrageous" behaviour and suggested Carol­ Thatcher was the victim of a personal campaign because­ of BBC bias against Margaret Thatcher.

    "This­ comment was made in jest afterwards in the green room­ over a drink and no-one objected to it at the­ time," Gunn said.

    SHAME ON HER!!!!Jess X

    From Jeremy, on Sun 8 Feb 11:15PM
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