Former World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is dealing with back issues ahead of the Davis Cup Final set to start on Friday, November 23, as per the reports by RMC Sport – BFMTV.
Just after an hour into the training on Tuesday afternoon in Lille, the Frenchman cut short his session owing to a problem in his back.
He took a 10-minute break to resume the practice again, only to leave the court early again. However, he returned two hours later – this time, with a bandaging in the upper arm and right shoulder.
Things appeared to be far better on Wednesday for the 33-year-old. He attended the training session and did all his drills with absolute ease. As per a statement by the French tennis team coach Loic Courteau, Tsonga is fine and there is no cause to worry.
The 2017 ATP Lyon winner hasn’t had the best of the season this year owing to a variety of reasons. He has missed seven months of action owing to his injuries. In fact, he pulled out of the Davis Cup fixture against the Netherlands earlier this year for the same reason.
He picked up a left knee injury in February and in March, he incurred a meniscus fissure. Tsonga then underwent a left knee surgery in April, which eventually forced him to miss the most of the season. As a result, he fell out of the top 50 for the first time since 2007.
The Frenchman returned to the ATP Tour by playing at the Moselle Open. However, he lost in the first round there to Peter Gojowczyk. He incurred similar early-round defeats in Antwerp, Vienna, and Paris.
From the perspective of the final that is set to start on Friday, it is imperative for Tsonga to be in the best shape possible. The defending champions will be playing without their top three players – Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, and Gilles Simon.
In such a scenario, it will be up to Tsonga and Lucas Pouille to take the French contingent through to another Davis Cup victory.
This is likely to be highly difficult for the hosts, considering that their opponents, Croatia, are bringing in the top guns – World no. 7 Marin Cilic and World No. 12 Borna Coric, along with the doubles World No. 4 Ivan Dodig.
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