Last year, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said that “there is no way that a Frenchman can win Roland Garros,” adding that “We’re not up to it.” But with his semifinal appearance at the French Open this year, Tsonga might just very well prove his theory wrong if he makes it in the next two rounds to become the first Frenchman to win the Roland Garros in thirty years since Yannick Noah did this in 1983.
Tsonga produced one of the biggest upsets so far in the tournament, defeating good friend Roger Federer in straight sets in the quarterfinals.
“For a couple of months, I’ve been making a lot of effort. I’ve tried to manage my career as well as possible, and I was waiting for rewards because I’m practicing hard every day. And today, I got the rewards. I believed in it of course before the match, because I expect the rewards from what I did,” the world No.8 said.
“To be honest, I don’t know if it’s mental, if it’s physical, or if I just played the right shot every time I hit the ball. Today before I came on court, I had a long discussion with (coach) Roger (Rasheed), and we tried to see how Roger Federer plays on clay and also the way Rafa is to always able make him play the wrong way. I tried to do the same, and today it worked,” he added.
Tsonga will now face fifth-ranked David Ferrer in the Roland Garros semifinals on Friday. Ferrer is also aiming for his own career record – to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time. Ferrer reached the semifinals last year but lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
“You know, every day is different. Before I was alone, but I think it was important for me to be alone and to understand what I’m doing. Sometime it’s tough to have somebody with you – they expect a lot. But you don’t know if you expect the same things, so this period for me was really important to be alone and to understand how I like tennis and how I want to improve my game and which sacrifices I can make,” Tsonga said.
