Tsonga can guide France to Olympic tennis doubles glory
Published:Bob and Mike Bryan may have joined forces to win 11 Grand Slam doubles titles, but with an Olympic gold medal still eluding them, it is 4/1 that they finally complete their trophy cabinet in London.
The twin brothers have been dumped out of the last two Olympics by the eventual winners, going down to Chilean duo Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu in 2004 and then Swiss pairing Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka in Beijing.
However, they may have to wait another four years if they want an Olympic gold as French pairing Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga can beat them to the gold.
The Bryan brothers have not maintained their typical dominance in 2012 thus far, losing the finals at both the Australian Open and French Open, while they were surprisingly beaten in the last-four at Wimbledon by Brit Jonathan Marray and his partner Frederik Nielsen.
They are the top seeds for the Olympics, but they are not that accustomed to taking on the big names in the sport and this may be one of the reasons that they have previously found Olympic gold a bridge too far.
The big names are out in force again this year, with Federer and Wawrinka out to defend their titles, Novak Djokovic representing Serbia with Victor Troicki and Andy Murray teaming up with his brother Jamie for Team GB.
But it is Tsonga’s appearance that is perhaps most fascinating and from all of the star names from the singles, he may be best suited to the different style of doubles.
Tsonga’s game is certainly better suited than most to grass and his ability at the net could prove invaluable.
Llodra is a three-time Grand Slam winner in the doubles ranks and so is proven in the sphere, while the fact that he is left handed offers a nice mix with Tsonga.
9/1 seems a fair price in the Olympics odds that the French pairing take doubles gold and the fact they are second seeds will ensure they avoid the Bryan brothers until the final if both teams make it this far.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
