[Pipsy]

As a compiler of tennis stats, it struck me how these four French players have had fairly comparable careers over the same period of time. I thought it would be interesting to see how they compare across a number of stats and then open up discussion on how their legacies compare.

I will aim to update this table periodically as they finish their careers over the coming years.

	Richard Gasquet	Gael Monfils	Gilles Simon	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Age	34 years 5 months	34 years 3 months	35 years 11 months	35 years 7 months
Wins	548	493	492	464
Losses	330	278	369	223
Win %	62.4%	63.9%	57.1%	67.5%
Win % vs Top 10	23.7%	29.2%	27.2%	33.8%
Titles (Tour Level)	15	10	14	18
GS Titles/Finals	0/0	0/0	0/0	0/1
GS Semis	3	2	0	6
GS Quarters	5	9	2	15
Masters Titles/Finals	0/3	0/3	0/2	2/4
Highest Ranking	#7	#6	#6	#5
Weeks in Top 10	146	96	56	260
H2H vs Richard Gasquet	-	11-7	1-9	5-4
H2H vs Gael Monfils	7-11	-	7-3	4-4
H2H vs Gilles Simon	9-1	3-7	-	9-3
H2H vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	4-5	4-4	3-9	-

 

[Johnny Groove]

Thought you were going to talk about Lacoste, Cochet, Borotra and Brugnon ha

Tsonga was the best by far of these guys

 

[jojjeshruk]

Four guys who all at their best played lovely tennis. All of them with pretty big weaknesses. Its quite funny how close in age and accomplishments they are.

 

[swissmaestro92]

yeah i did a thread recently on three of these, Tsonga did well but should have won a slam I feel and I feel Gasquet and Monfils could have achieved much more. Simon did as well as he probably could.

 

[Bella&Mirka]

Simon being 4-18 in the H2H against Gasquet and Tsonga is what stands out for me... but he leads Monfils 7-3... who leads Gasquet and is level with Tsonga!.... proves how H2H is not a reliable indicator.

 

[florentine]

We can add qualification for the Masters and of course for JWT, a final.

JWT: 3 (08-11-12) (1F: 2011) 4W-7L
Monfils: 1 (16) 0-2L
Gasquet: 2 (07-13) 1W-5L
Simon: 1 (08:1/2F) 2W-2L

 

[I'm all in]

Tsonga had the best career. Also interesting to see his h2h against the Big 3. He won 4 out of the first 5 meetings against Djokovic. But the most important one the final at the Australian Open he lost.

In general Tsonga against Big 3:

Tsonga-Nadal 4:10 (Grand Slam 1:2)
Tsonga-Djokovic 6:17 (Grand Slam 1:7)
Tsonga-Federer 6:12 (Grand Slam 2:4)

 

[Roo]

They all still occupy different times to me.
Gasquet was a young prodigy in 02/03 who looked set for great things.
Monfils stormed on the tour at the same time as Murray, 05-ish, both highly touted
Simon was more of a 50-100 type until he won Marseille in 2007
Tsonga had that long tiebreaker in the 1st set against Roddick at 2007 AO.

Tsonga was certainly the best, but the other three had nice careers. Funny how they almost made a mark on tour in reverse age. Simon not the most hyped junior, whereas the other three were top juniors but Tsonga had early injuries.

 

[Juno Reactor]

inb4 Simon is a mediocre player, lol

14 titles in total, I don't think many active players have 14 titles or more? Would be nice to have a list.

Last time Simon won a title, he beat consecutively Bautista, Cilic (who was top 5at the time )and Anderson. very nice run.

 

[Martin12]

inb4 Simon is a mediocre player, lol

14 titles in total, I don't think many active players have 14 titles or more? Would be nice to have a list.

Last time Simon won a title, he beat consecutively Bautista, Cilic (who was top 5at the time )and Anderson. very nice run.

From Ultimate Tennis Statistics (active players)
1. Federer (103)
2. Nadal (86)
3. Djokovic (81)
4. Murray (46)
5. Cilic and Tsonga (18)
7. Thiem (17)
8. Wawrinka (16)
9. Gasquet and Isner (15)
11. Simon (14)
12. Zverev (13)
13. Nishikori (12)
14. Querrey and Monfils (10)

That's all active players with 10+ titles. The four French players all have quite a few titles, but for Gasquet, all 15 titles, and for Simon 13 out of 14 are ATP 250.

 

[Lukasgigler]

Gasquet is the ultimate vulture. Unlike Tsonga He could never get past the big 4 in any major tournament so he had to rely on weak 250s to amass titles. Simon and Monfils faced a similar fate but at least they won stuff above 250s Tsonga was by far the best of the four.

 

[Juno Reactor]

From Ultimate Tennis Statistics (active players)
1. Federer (103)
2. Nadal (86)
3. Djokovic (81)
4. Murray (46)
5. Cilic and Tsonga (18)
7. Thiem (17)
8. Wawrinka (16)
9. Gasquet and Isner (15)
11. Simon (14)
12. Zverev (13)
13. Nishikori (12)
14. Querrey and Monfils (10)

That's all active players with 10+ titles. The four French players all have quite a few titles, but for Gasquet, all 15 titles, and for Simon 13 out of 14 are ATP 250.

Thanks for the list.

 

[xdrewitdajx]

Gasquet is the ultimate vulture. Unlike Tsonga He could never get past the big 4 in any major tournament so he had to rely on weak 250s to amass titles. Simon and Monfils faced a similar fate but at least they won stuff above 250s Tsonga was by far the best of the four.

Did Gasquet ever even put up a real fight against the Big 3 in slams? Tsonga beat them all, I remember Simon (vs Djoko at AO) and Monfils (vs Fed at USO) putting up a lot of resistance but can’t remember the same for Gasquet, truly felt like one of those NID matchups...could just not be remembering though

 

[Juno Reactor]

Did Gasquet ever even put up a real fight against the Big 3 in slams? Tsonga beat them all, I remember Simon (vs Djoko at AO) and Monfils (vs Fed at USO) putting up a lot of resistance but can’t remember the same for Gasquet, truly felt like one of those NID matchups...could just not be remembering though

Never won a set, his best fight was probably US Open 2013 semifinal, Nadal in that tournament was at his very best.

 

[Iblis_00]

Four guys who all at their best played lovely tennis. All of them with pretty big weaknesses. Its quite funny how close in age and accomplishments they are.

Not Simon.

 

[bilentsob]

I have a soft spot for all four of them. They (less the case for Simon) had huge expectations and pressure, and while they never fulfilled the expectations of bringing a slam to France, they had decent careers that most players will kill for.

Monfils had a late resurgence to get to ten titles. I actually didn't think he would get to 10.

 

[Rekanto]

Simon being 4-18 in the H2H against Gasquet and Tsonga is what stands out for me... but he leads Monfils 7-3... who leads Gasquet and is level with Tsonga!.... proves how H2H is not a reliable indicator.

Stats tells us a story about 2 players. When you add a 3rd or more then it becomes an equation.
What you just wrote tells me 1 simple thing. Players match up better vs another.
Monfils doesn´t have the patience of Gasquet and Tsonga. Simon could bore Geal to death.

 

[Jolyon]

Tsonga is the best of that lot. He's got some firepower like del Potro and Cilic and defeated Big 4 at least once in slams, but unfortunately, he was not able to string his great performances together at one particular slam to become a slam champion. Defeated Rafa and Murray in AO'08 and lost to Djokovic eventually. Defeated Djokovic in AO'10 and lost to Federer eventually. Defeated Federer in Wimbledon'11 and lost to Djokovic later. However, he's beaten Federer, Djokovic, and Murray in 2014 Rogers Cup to win a big title there; arguably, his best performance at one event.

I'd group Tsonga with Berdych and Ferrer; the trinity who could have won a slam, but were never able to achieve it.

Admittingly, I have a soft spot for Tsonga and would never group him with Gasdope, Clownfils, and Pushmon. Four musketeers? Please............

 

[masterclass]

Thought you were going to talk about Lacoste, Cochet, Borotra and Brugnon ha

Tsonga was the best by far of these guys

Thought the same, though Lacoste, Cochet, Borotra, and Brugnon as a group had far better accomplishments than the modern day Frenchmen.

Respectfully,
masterclass

 

[Pedigree]

Surprised to see Tsonga having clearly fewer wins than the other three, despite having the best overall careers in terms of titles and big match success. Still feel that Gasquet and Monfils have clearly underachieved, especially the latter.