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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga shares note from Australian Open ball girl

By Jen Howard

Tuesday 24 January 2017 13:48, UK

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga escorts an unwell ball girl from the court during his singles match against Omar Jasika at the 2016 Australian Open
Image: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga escorts an unwell ball girl from the court during his singles match against Omar Jasika at the Australian Open

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga shared a heartfelt letter from the ball girl he helped at the Australian Open.

The Frenchman made headlines in Melbourne when he stopped play during his second-round match to help the tearful girl after she was struck by a ball.

The 31-year old accompanied the girl arm in arm off the court before returning to beat home favourite Omar Jasika 7-5 6-1 6-4.

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Tsonga, who conquered Dan Evans on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open 2017, shared on his official Twitter account the touching letter from Giuliana - the Australian ball girl.

It read: "Dear Mr Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"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.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga safely made it through to the last eight
Image: Tsonga is through to Australian Open quarter-finals
"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.

"I had picked up a virus which I was unaware of and it caused me to become dizzy and light-headed. 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."
Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland plays a backhand in his third round match against Viktor Troicki of Serbia
Image: Stan Wawrinka will face Tsonga in the last eight

Giuliana finished the note wishing the world number 12 "all the best for your upcoming games" ahead of his match against 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals.

Check previews, reports and live blogs from Jo Konta's matches at the Australian Open by following us on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad or our Twitter account @skysportstennis.

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