Australian Open ball girl writes heart-warming letter to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

27
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In an effort to thank Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the lovely gesture he showed in the 2016 Australian Open, Guiliana, the ball girl whom Tsonga escorted off the court after finding her unwell, has written an emotional letter to the Frenchman. Tsonga thanked her for the letter and shared it on Twitter.

During the Australian Open Round of 64 encounter between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Omar Jasika last year, the former made it to the headlines for his heartfelt gesture on the court. Tsonga came to the aid of a ball girl in distress during the game when he noticed that she was unwell during the third set of his match. The Frenchman walked over to check on the girl. On realizing that she was struggling, he put his hand on her back, and she passed Tsonga a ball she was holding. He then looped his arm through hers and escorted her off the court.

12 months later, that ball girl, named Guiliana, has sent a warm message to the 31-year-old.

"Dear Mr Jo-Wilfried Tsonga," the letter reads.

"I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you for helping me out on court during your round 2 match. I'm not sure if you remember me but I was the ball girl you escorted off court.

"I would also like to take the opportunity to apologise for the times when you asked for the ball but I did not service it to you or acknowledge you.

Thank you so much for the kindness that you showed me.

"I had picked up a virus which I was unaware of and it caused me to become dizzy and lightheaded. This also affected my vision and hearing.

"I apologise for not being able to perform my duties as a ball kid to the high standards that are expected.

"Thank you so much for the kindness that you showed me. I really appreciate that you were able to see that I needed some help and were kind enough to escort me off court.”

She has wished Tsonga “all the best” for this upcoming encounters in the Australian Open, before signing off: "Giuliana, AO Ballkid no. 180."

The incident from last year:

Tsonga thanked Guiliana for the letter and shared it on Twitter.

Yesterday, Tsonga defeated Daniel Evans of Britain to book a place in the quarter-finals of the Open. He will now face Stan Wawrinka in the Rod Laver Arena tomorrow.

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