North Melbourne stars Michael Firrito and Daniel Wells caught up with the World No. 38 after his first-round defeat of Andy Murray to teach him about AFL, and since then the team has followed his progress through the tournament.
Wells and Firrito were courtside to watch Tsonga’s amazing artillery of shots during his demolition of Mikhail Youzhny in the Quarter Finals on Tuesday.
“He is in amazing form, and there is no reason why he can’t win the whole thing,” Firrito said.
“All the boys have been following his progress and some have cashed in by backing him in certain games.”
The 22-year-old has been in amazing form, defeating Andy Murray (9th seed), Sam Warburg, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Richard Gasquet (8th), Mikhail Youzhny (14th) and last night World No. 2 Rafael Nadal to make into Sunday’s final.
“What impressed me on Tuesday night was his ability to cover the ground for such a big guy,” Firrito said.
“I know he has had his injury problems in the past, but it amazes me that he has not won an ATP Tour title. He looked so in-control during the whole match. You would never have thought he was unseeded,” he said.
“The Australian Open would not be a bad way to break through for your first title though.”
With all North Melbourne players and fans behind him, Tsonga will meet the winner of tonight’s other semi-final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the Grand Slam final.
