Jo Goes!

Well done, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga! I think we can safely say that the Tsonga ship is in the harbour. This kid could well be the next big thing - and if he keeps playing the way he is, then that's a certainty. He is oozing with talent: and, better yet, he's smart. That is maybe one of the most important qualities a tennis player can have.

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He has a great attitude too. This is what he said after the match:

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"At the end of the match I felt a lot better. I played exactly like I had to. I didn't do extraordinary things. Like in Australia I played volleys that were coming from nowhere, whereas today I played just right. I believe this is the way you win. It's not when you do lucky shots that you win. It's when you think about your shots."

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He's made a Slam final and won two titles, including a Masters series, and he is still learning. Andy Murray might well be the hottest player on tour right now, but Jo-W is hot on his tail, and if he and Djokovic aren't careful, I could see Tsonga potentially leapfrogging them next year. He has all that part of the year where he wasn't playing because of injury - imagine how many points he can gain there!

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Actually, that's incredible. Tsonga has made the Masters Cup after being out for half the season injured. How incredible is that? In points, he actually leapfrogged Juan Martin del Potro, and we all know how hot Juan M has been this season. So Jo has qualified in seventh place. I really hope he's in Rafa's group - have they played since Jo carved him up at the Aussie Open? Because that is a rematch I would really like to see.

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So we have our qualifiers for Shanghai - Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray, Davydenko, Roddick, Tsonga and del Potro. Some of them are old regulars, but it is good to see some new blood there. It is the first time round for Murray, Tsonga and del Potro - good on them. I am, however, really disappointed that David Ferrer isn't there. Last year Fernando Gonzalez and Richard Gasquet also made appearances, but neither of them - especially Gasquet - really deserve to be here this year. I'm also a bit sad James Blake didn't make it, but what can you do, I guess? It's important to have new blood, and we have some top-notch new blood here.

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You just wait till London next year, when Cilic and Gulbis are the new blood. You just wait.

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The groups for Doha have just been decided: in the white group, we have Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva, Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, while in the maroon group we have Dinara Safina, Elena Dementieva, Venus Williams and Serena Williams. (Why white and maroon I have no idea.) Is it just me, or is the maroon group a lot more competitive than the white? If Jelena Jankovic doesn't come through the white group in top spot, I will eat an item of my clothing. The maroon group could be a four-way dogfight, unless one or more of them has a total collapse. I'm going with Dinara to come out on top, but Serena could give her a run for her money...

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Today's Results

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BNP Paribas Masters

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. David Nalbandian, 6-3 4-6 6-4

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Bell Challenge (Quebec)

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Nadia Petrova def. Bethanie Mattek, 4-6 6-4 6-1