When most players go through their final checklist as they prepare for a Grand Slam, very few have the words "bad back" scrawled across the clipboard. Fitness and training? Tick. Confidence? Tick. Decent draw? Tick. Clean shirt for presentation ceremony on the final Sunday? Tick. But a dodgy back? Surely not. Yet the back spasms that had Jo-Wilfried Tsonga doubting whether he would even be able to take part in this year’s Australian Open may just be the making of the Frenchman.
While the focus of attention is on the likes of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, Tsonga is feeling the pressure, too. Last year he just about overcame his nerves to beat Murray in the opening round and then went on to power his way to the final. With every round he looked more controlled and more assured, even taking a set from the Serb in the final, but it was not quite enough to earn him the trophy.
Coming back to Melbourne Park, Tsonga has a barrow-load of ranking points to defend, and while that may not sound as sexy as defending a major title, it is just as important. When the tournament finishes, the 1400 points that he earned here last year will be wiped from his tally, and if he fails to defend each and every one of them, he runs the risk of dropping down to the lower reaches of the world's top 20. He can rest a little easier now after securing the first few points by beating Juan Monaco 6-4 6-4 6-0 in the opening round.
The fact that he was able to play at all was remarkable. Just five days ago he could barely walk, much less run after his chronically-ailing back seized up. But determined to try and play at one of his favourite tournaments, he persevered, and by the time he faced Monaco, he felt no pain at all, "not even a little," he explained.
Even so, the match was not plain sailing. After years of dealing with the aftermath of a herniated disc in his back, Tsonga knows better than to push himself when he is not at his physical peak. As he prepared to play Monaco, he decided that he would not serve at full pelt. In fact, he would not serve normally at all and, altering his action to use less rotation and less height, he swiftly remodelled the whole stroke for the afternoon. It was a brave move and one that paid dividends, even if some of his missed deliveries were so far wide of the mark that they almost landed in South Yarra.
"But I am so used to being injured, I know how to deal with these problems," Tsonga said. "The positive is that with all this pain and with the injury, you don't think about the pressure of playing here again."
If that sounds like Tsonga is trying to talk a good fight, then remember one R. Federer at Wimbledon in 2003. Then the Swiss was just the supremely-talented hopeful who could never deliver on the big stage but, as he made his way through the rounds at Wimbledon, he knew he was on the brink of making the biggest breakthrough of his career. And then his back went into spasm and he thought his moment had gone. As the history books tell us, his chance did not evaporate and he went on to win his first Wimbledon trophy, but the distraction of worrying about his injury took his mind of the thought that he was about to win a Grand Slam title.
Although there is a certain amount of pressure that comes with Tsonga's return to Melbourne Park, he starts to smile as soon he walks through the gates. "When I practised here this morning," he said, "I said to myself 'I feel I can only play well here, no matter what court I play on'. This is the only place in the world that I feel like that."
The chances are he will be on a show court for his next match when he takes on Ivan Ljubicic. It will not be a match for the faint-hearted, as Tsonga's ground strokes could knock holes in concrete - and Ljubicic's serve could kill a yak at 100 paces. Maybe Tsonga should add a tin hat and armour to that checklist …
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