Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Petsonga (born April 17, 1985) is
a French professional tennis player. Tsonga has a
career high ranking of #16, achieved on March 3,
2008. Born in Le Mans, Tsonga has mixed heritage
having a French mother, Évelyne, and a Congolese
father, Didier Tsonga, who moved to France in the
1970s to play handball. He has a cousin Charles
N'Zogbia who plays soccer for Newcastle United as a
midfielder.
Tsonga recently rose to fame by virtue of his
performance in the 2008 Australian Open when, as an
unseeded player, he reached the final, having
defeated four seeded players along the way,
including earning a straight sets win over world
number 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Tsonga
eventually lost to world number 3 Novak Đoković in
the final in 4 sets, after winning the first set.
