Australian Open 2016: Jo Wilfried-Tsonga comes to injured ballgirl’s aid

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gained a lot of new fans after this wonderful gesture at the Australian Open. “I hope she’s OK”. “I just believed in myself”.

The Frenchman, the ninth-ranked men’s player at the Australian Open, was in the final set of his eventual 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win over Jasika when he noticed the ball girl’s injury.

Tsonga’s act of kindness lit up social media sites, taking him by surprise. Being the outstanding dude that he is, Tsonga called a halt to the match and checked on the ball girl to make sure she was OK.

“I asked the umpire during the game if everything is OK”.

‘I will double check if she’s well now’. She was in trouble.

The ball girl was fine, just feeling under the weather, according to tournament organisers.

Back on the court, Tsonga used all of his advantages – 12 more years’ experience and a 30kg-heavier frame – to end Jasika’s Open in straight sets.

The moment came early in the third set with Tsonga serving.

Tsonga, who will play countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the third round, praised his young opponent.

Forced to defend a break point in the very first game, Tsonga took time to unravel the tricky young left-hander, dropping his serve in the fifth game.

“He got 40 minutes of really good quality out of his game then it just dropped”, Todd Woodbridge said.