Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdraws from Sydney after a great Brisbane run

Starting to hit the ball again, Jo returned to the court to work in the off-season and he entered the main draw in Brisbane with the protected ranking, facing Thanasi Kokkinakis in the opening round and scoring a 7-6, 6-4 win, only his sixth since the start of the last year.

The Frenchman played a very solid match, dominating with his serve and forehand and doing just about enough on the return to prevail in straight sets and score a very important win on his comeback trail. A former world no. 5 was supposed to play against Rafael Nadal in the second round but he faced a lucky loser Taro Daniel instead when Rafa decided to withdraw, claiming another tight 7-6, 6-3 win for the place in the quarter-final, the first since Montpellier last year in February when he injured his knee.

The first serve and forehand worked fine for the Frenchman again and he won almost half of the return points to set the quarter-final clash against the rising Aussie Alex de Minaur. In the semi-final clash with Daniil Medvedev, Tsonga finally had to hit the exit door, suffering a 7-6, 6-2 loss despite two set points he had in the tie break at 6-4.

He couldnt do enough on the return this time and the Russian sailed through the second set to reach the final and leave Jo without a trophy. Tsonga could meet some of the rivals from the top in the very first round and no one would love to see him on the other side of the net in Melbourne, reaching the quarter-final there five times and playing in the final 11 years ago.

If he stays healthy, Jo will make quick progress through the rankings and get back where he belongs and the Australian Open offers the perfect opportunity for that, especially with the favorable draw and a week off he will have instead of playing more matches in Sydney.