Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships

[CR12] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) continues to enjoy being entangled in unnecessary lengthy court battles; this time, there would be no escape. In this match against [CR142] Michal Przysiezny (POL), who has never won a singles title, Tsonga was playing from behind most of the match .  There is no reason that should have been the case.  Tsonga has more weapons at his disposal than Przysiezny, yet, he looked to be the player ranked 142.  He does not take advantage of his arsenal of weapons, he can beat the best we know that, yet, it requires consistent play to be a Champion.

His inability to remain focused and committed is probably the reason Tsonga has never taken that next step.  Despite his powerful serve and lethal forehand, he slips in and out of focus.  It takes less than a minute to play a game, if you lose focus, that game is lost and your opponent is either winning the match or serving for the match.

When Tsonga is focused and committed to his game, he is a spectacular sight on court.  When he goes through the motion, giving less than his full attention,  he detracts from the sport. He should not have lost this match; all credit to Przysiezny, he took full advantage of Tsonga’s lack of interest, winning the tiebreaker and ultimately the match, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(9).