Former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looks to book a third round berth at the Australian Open when he plays Ricardo Mello on Thursday.
Melbourne is the perfect city for the laid-back Frenchman who gets the chance to indulge his love of fine dining and water-sports during his down-time. A huge crowd favourite at the Open thanks to his exuberant personality and free flowing shot-makings, Tsonga has rewarded with the fans with some of the finest performances of his career at this event in the past.
He obliterated Rafa Nadal in the 2008 semi-finals, a seismic upset at the time and made the last four again two years later. This year his path could be blocked by fourth seed Andy Murray in the quarters and Tsonga will need to step up a gear from his first round display against Denis Istomin.
Two powerfully built players, they slugged it out in the twilight session on Margaret Court Arena and Istomin was unlucky not to get a fifth set with Tsonga scraping through 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Mello should provide less of a challenge. The Brazilian has less pedigree than Istomin and is ranked outside the top 100. He's not been past the second round of a slam for eighth years.
Prediction: Tsonga in three.
