Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has made a passionate plea to French Open organisers to extend him the same kind of courtesy granted to Britain's Andy Murray at Wimbledon after his preparations were upset by unexpectedly playing a day early. Tsonga, seeded eighth in Paris, yesterday asked organisers if he could start his Roland Garros campaign either on Monday or Tuesday, but his request was turned down and the burly right-hander made his bow on Sunday's low-key opening day programme.
He was lucky to make it through the opening day, pushed hard by Germany's Daniel Brands in five sets, and Tsonga was not happy with the organisers. "We are in France. I'm French. I'm French No 1. I would have thought it was legitimate for me to be listened to, that I would be given a choice," he said in his post-match press conference after his 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 second-round win over Josselin Ouanna, his compatriot, yesterday.
"They should listen to me when I wanted to play or start. "I had asked not to play on a Sunday because I had practised in such a way that I thought I wanted to play on a Monday or Tuesday, to be totally fit. "But they imposed it on me. If you're world No 80 and you're not that important in the hierarchy, if I can say, loads of things are imposed on you in this case. "What really bothered me is that, you know, if you look at [Andy] Murray, if he decides on a day or hour at Wimbledon, nobody is going to impose anything on him."
Organisers were not immediately available for comment. Richard Gasquet, his fellow Frenchman, also had his request to play on Monday or Tuesday denied by organisers and played his first-round match against Murray just two days after beating Fernando Verdasco in the Nice Open final. Gasquet won the first two sets in dazzling fashion before running out of steam, bowing out after a five-set battle. "Twenty-four hours [of recuperation], it's important. It would have made a difference but I knew I could play either on Monday or Tuesday," said Gasquet. "I needed some luck. I did not get any."
That kind of bad luck would not strike Roger Federer or other top names in the sport, according to Tsonga. "For Federer in his country it's the same," he said. "In the US I suppose it's the same thing for the best American players. I expected a bit more from the organisers." Tsonga will play either Gullermo Garcia-Lopez, the 32nd seed, or Thiemo De Bakker in the third round. * Agencies
