Since 2009, every 4 years, the magic works at the Open 13 Provence for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
2009
After a first failure in 2008, in the wake of his mythical final lost to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, Jo Wilfried Tsonga arrived in Marseille with a knife between his teeth. Having beaten Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals, Jo had a wonderful revenge to take against the man who had deprived him of a Grand Slam title a year earlier. The Frenchman succeeded (as he often does in Marseille) against Novak Djokovic, in a semi-final that will go down in the annals of the tournament. In the final the following day against Michael Llodra, Tsonga had "shown his mettle", particularly on serve, and won 7-5 7-6.
2013
That year, Jo entered the tournament as world number 8. Thanks to this status, he avoided the first round and dominated Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the second. A good start. In the quarter-finals, the then French No. 1 was challenged more by the talented Australian Bernard Tomic and even had to save five match points. After this tough battle (more than 2 hours!), won 12-10 in the third set tie-break, Jo met again in the last four a player he knew particularly well. And for good reason, he shared his room when they were both residents of the National Training Centre: Gilles Simon. In total, the two men have crossed swords 13 times during their careers and, even if Tsonga leads 9-4, their confrontations are often close. Not on this day. In 1 hour and five minutes, Tsonga made it to the final, giving up just four games to his friend/adversary/brother-in-arms. Against Tomas Berdych, seeded No. 1, the music was not the same on the last day of the tournament. Against the Czech, Jo spends twice as much time on court (2h10) and saves another match point. But at the end of the day, there is his 10th title on the circuit, the 2nd in Marseille.
2017
As in 2013, Jo is now, four years later, part of the privileged group of the top 4 seeds. This status allows him to start the tournament with one match less to play (the first round). This extra day of rest is not a bad thing for Jo, who has just come back from Rotterdam where he won a week of high-level competition, with three Top 15 players on his roster. To win two titles in two consecutive weeks is not only rare, but also very difficult to achieve. But no matter. When Jo arrives in Marseille, something always happens. Fatigue is evacuated, replaced by adrenalin and the taste of victory. The rest is square: an almost flawless week, with only one set lost to Kyrgios in the semi-finals, and a one-sided victory in the final against Lucas Pouille. With this third title, Jo joins Marc Rosset and Tomas Enqvist in the exclusive club of three-time winners.
2021
That's it: it's four years later and it's a good time for Jo to make a comeback. For the moment, he has only one singles match in his legs, lost to Sebastian Korda (the son of) in Montpellier. Since his arrival in Marseille, he has played and lost his first round in doubles alongside a former Open 13 Provence quarter-finalist, Albano Olivetti. The draw has not been kind to him, he has to face Feliciano Lopez in the first round. This will be their sixth meeting, so far Jo leads 5-0. And to remind you, he wins the tournament every 4 years. Let's hope it lasts!
