In the current ATP professional tennis, among the "Big Four", Nadal was born in 1986, Djokovic and Murray were both born in 1987.

In other words, this group of players are in their golden period, and players of the same age group are no exception, showing a situation of overall blowout.

France has such a group of players from its golden age. At its peak in 2014, they occupied three seats in the top ten in the world.

Tsonga, Monfils, Gasquet and Simon are the core members.

Among them, Tsonga, who was born in 1985, is undoubtedly the most representative and recognizable one. He is strong in all aspects from talent to character, from achievements to strength.

As early as 2008, Tsonga, who was ranked 38th in the world at the time, became famous in the Australian Open as an unseeded player.

He defeated Murray in the first round, and then eliminated Gasquet, Youzhny and Nadal along the way, defeating four top ten players in the world to enter the final. In the final against Djokovic, he won the first set, but unfortunately he was reversed in the end and missed the championship.

At the end of the same year, Tsonga won the Paris Masters.

At that time, Djokovic and Murray had not yet fully grown up, and the concept of "giant" did not exist at all. It was still an era dominated by the theme of "Federer VS Nadal". In people's eyes, Tsonga was a potential giant player who would grow and progress together with Djokovic and Murray.

Later, at the 2014 Toronto Masters, Tsonga defeated Murray, Djokovic and Federer in succession to win the championship. He also became the first player in the past decade to defeat three giants in the same event and win the championship. This feat alone is worth writing about.

Later, at the Australian Open earlier this year, Gawain accomplished this feat in the Grand Slam, defeating Nadal, Murray and Djokovic to win the championship. This also established Gawain as a leader of the new generation. But overall, Gawain is still a little "immature" compared to Tsonga.

It mainly refers to time.

Gao Wen rose to prominence quickly in less than a year, but he lacked a foundation; while Tsonga has been proving himself over the long years.

Previously, a record was mentioned: First, in the Grand Slam, there are only four players who have won all three giants, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic:

Murray, Wawrinka, Berdych, Tsonga.

Secondly, when the three giants were ranked No. 1 in the ATP world, there were only three players who had defeated them:

Murray, Del Potro, Tsonga.

Finally, if the above two records overlap, then only Murray and Tsonga will accomplish such a feat.

It is also because of this that Murray was considered the "fourth giant" for a long time, while Tsonga was considered the strongest player outside the "big four".

From another perspective, Murray, Wawrinka and Del Potro have all won Grand Slam titles and left their names in the long river of history, and Murray has even been ranked world number one; therefore, Berdych and Tsonga have always been regarded as "the strongest players who have not won a Grand Slam title."

There is a piece of data that can provide some proof: "The player who has defeated the Big Four the most times as of 2021" -

Wawrinka, twenty-one times, three wins over Federer, three wins over Nadal, six wins over Djokovic, and nine wins over Murray.

Del Potro, twenty times, seven wins over Federer, six wins over Nadal, four wins over Djokovic, and three wins over Murray.

Berdych, nineteen times, six wins over Federer, four wins over Nadal, three wins over Djokovic, and six wins over Murray.

Tsonga, eighteen times, six wins over Federer, four wins over Nadal, six wins over Djokovic, and two wins over Murray.

At a glance.

Of course, in addition to these, players such as Cilic, Kei Nishikori, Dimitrov, Simon and others have also defeated the Big Four; among the new generation of players, Kyrgios, Tsitsipas, Zverev, Medvedev and others have also accomplished such a feat, but when their times are added up, none of them are in double digits.

The only exception is Tim.

As of 2021, Thiem has defeated the Big Four a total of 19 times, including five wins over Federer, six wins over Nadal, six wins over Djokovic, and two wins over Murray.

Here, data can explain a lot.

It is no wonder that people always say "born at the wrong time". Although Berdych and Tsonga have never won a Grand Slam, their strength is unquestionable.

Moreover, Berdych rose to prominence in 2007 and Tsonga rose to prominence in 2008. The golden period of the two players' careers basically overlapped perfectly with the peak period of the Big Four, but they were still able to achieve such outstanding results, which is enough to illustrate their excellence.

To some extent, Berdych and Tsonga can be seen as two sides of the same coin in tennis, representing two styles:

Berdych is disciplined, calm and solid.

Tsonga, passion, violence, heaviness.

There is often a lack of passion in Berdych's matches. His technique and ability have reached their peak, but he has never been able to break through the shackles.

In direct contrast is Tsonga, who is hot and explosive enough, but his technical skills often fluctuate at critical moments.

Watching Tsonga's game is a pleasure.

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This player is nicknamed "Tennis Ali" by fans because he looks like boxing champion Muhammad Ali. His playing style is indeed like that of a boxer, full of energy, passion, punches to the point of being physical, and clean and decisive. It is not only violent, but also refreshing, simple and pure.

Although equally violent, Tsonga and Del Potro are slightly different.

Del Potro is a typical baseline player. Although both players are tall and bulky, which leads to insufficient mobility and better offense than defense, the difference is that Del Potro still has the ability to maneuver at the baseline, while Tsonga prefers to take the initiative to make up for the defensive shortcomings.

Therefore, Tsonga often likes to raid the net.

Moreover, his net play is different from that of most current players. He is often able to create opportunities for himself through the suppression of absolute strength. The entire net play seems to be effortless and smooth, retro and classic. At the same time, it can become a killer move rather than a trick to change the rhythm of the game.

Serving, forehand, and volleying are all Tsonga's strengths; movement, backhand, and endurance are Tsonga's relative weaknesses.

Especially on hard courts, Tsonga is often able to bring out his own characteristics to the extreme, making tennis burst with the charm of boxing.

In the four Grand Slams, Tsonga has performed well.

Australian Open, the best is the final, other than that, there is one semi-final and three quarter-finals.

French Open, two semi-finals, one quarter-final.

Wimbledon, two semi-finals, two quarter-finals.

US Open, three quarterfinals.

Overall, the US Open is the only Grand Slam where Tsonga has never reached the semi-finals, but his worst average performance is still the French Open on clay.

Although he is the biggest hope for winning the championship in France every year, clay is obviously not Tsonga's best surface, which is a pity.

Perhaps, some people are curious, with such outstanding talent and ability, why didn't Tsonga have a better performance in his career?