Speaking to reporters at the ATP Rotterdam Open, Tsonga said:
"Federer and Nadal are not alone [at the top of the rankings] any more. Maybe on clay, things (Nadal’s victories) are still the same, but not on other surfaces.
Djokovic and are beating Nadal and Federer very often, all the players are improving their games. It’s not just about Nadal and Federer any more."
On the one hand there is nothing factually wrong with Tsonga's statement. Federer seems to be on the downside of his career. He holds almost every tennis record there is to hold, and he's probably playing the game because he enjoys it. Winning more titles would just be a plus. Its another story that he wins most of the matches he plays. Although you're rarely going to find a tournament where Federer fails to reach the quarters or the semis. And his coach Paul Annacone (formerly coach to Pete Sampras and Tim Henman) recently mentioned that he believed that Federer could extend his Grand Slam tally to 20 if he manages to remain motivated and healthy. It remains to be seen if Federer can have one last laugh.
Nadal's form on the other hand depends solely on his fitness. Nadal's style of play means that with even the slightest niggle he wont be at his very best. During the Australian Open Nadal showed that he was not invincible. Though it would be hard to write him off considering earlier this year the tennis world was abuzz with thoughts of a "Rafa Slam".
With out a doubt Djokovic and Murray are menancingly close by - Djoker has defeated Federer in the last 2 grandslams and Murray has managed to pull off wins against Rafa and Roger, although they seem to happen more regularly in the non-majors.
And coming back to the man of the moment, Tsonga. The Frenchman is a fine player, reaching a Grand Slam final and ascending to 6 in the rankings. But for someone who does not have a major title to his name, it seems to be mighty of him to be taking shots at the top 2 players in the world.
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