Jo-Wilfried Tsonga believes rising star Alex de Minaur will be ‘one of the favourites’ on the tour in the future as he prepares to play the rising star for the first time.
Tsonga, who missed eight months of the 2018 season due to a knee injury, secured a place in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International after defeating Taro Daniel 7-6(5), 6-3. Daniel was a late replacement in the draw for Rafael Nadal, who withdrew due to injury. During the match, Tsonga fired 11 aces past his Japanese rival and won 81% of his first service points.
“Last year I didn’t play that much … it was a tough season. I had a few weeks to prepare for this season. I’m happy to be back on court and do my passion.” Tsonga said afterwards in his press conference.
Now set to play in his first quarter-final match on the tour since February, Tsonga faces the challenge of taking on 2018 finalist Alex de Minaur. The 19-year-old home favourite secured his place in the last eight with a straightforward win over Jordan Thompson earlier in the week. De Minaur is currently at a ranking high of 31st in the world and is the second youngest player in the top 100 after Denis Shapovalov.
“I’m going to give my best as always … there his a new generation coming, it’s normal,” Tsonga said of facing De Minaur next.
“He’s a very good player. I like the mentality he’s got. He’s a fighter. He’s into every point. I will just try and do my job and play my game. It’s going to be nice for the crowd to see how it goes.”
Elaborating further about his upcoming rival, the Frenchman says his style reminds him of Lleyton Hewitt. Somebody who Tsonga played four times on the tour between 2007-2014, winning all of their matches. Hewitt is now a mentor to his younger compatriot.
“He reminds everybody of a certain Lleyton Hewitt, of course, but maybe a little bit more aggressive,” Tsonga said. “Because I played Lleyton a few times. He [de Minaur] has got the legs, the same legs [as Hewitt] and he’s very aggressive on court.
“For sure he [de Minaur] is going to be one of the favourites in the future.”
The upcoming match between the two players will be the last to be played on Friday.
