Tsonga to play Djokovic in 2008 rematch

The second round of the Australian Open will feature a rematch of the 2008 final between Novak Djokovic and JoWilfried Tsonga.

This will be the earliest of their 23 career meetings, with Frenchman Tsonga currently down at 177 in the rankings after missing most of last season following knee surgery.

The 33-year-old, a top-10 stalwart for many years, is playing in his first grand slam tournament for 12 months and admitted he questioned his future in the sport during his long lay-off.

After beating Martin Klizan 6-4 6-4 7-6 (5), Tsonga said: “It’s never easy because you have to test your mind, you have to really know if you still want to play to come back at the top level.

“But at the same time, it’s really good because when you are sure that you want to come back and do all the sacrifice to be at a good level, it means you are really motivated and ready to compete again. For me the answer was really easy. I love it and I still feel like I have the tennis to play.”

Tsonga’s breakthrough came in Melbourne 11 years ago with a stunning run to his first, and so far only, slam final, which ended in a four-set loss that gave Djokovic the first of his 14 slam titles.

Tsonga can boast six career wins over the Serbian, including here in the quarter-finals in 2010.

His expectations are lower this time, but he said: “I’m pretty happy to go in the second round and face Djokovic on a big court again. I will try to take my chance and live the moment.”