Jo-Wilfried Tsonga praised for act of kidness at Australian Open

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has been hailed as a gentleman on social media after he came to the aid of a ball girl in distress during the Australian Open.

Tsonga noticed the girl, who had been hit in the face by a ball, was feeling unwell during the third set of his match with home hope Omar Jasika.

The ninth seed paused before serving and went over to check to see what was wrong.

He put an arm around her shoulder after speaking with her and called for assistance before helping escort her off the court.

The Frenchman admitted afterwards he was surprised by the reaction from the public to his act of kindness.

"I didn't know it was going to be something like this,' said Tsonga.

"It's just normal. She was really in trouble and the eyes were a bit teary," he added.

"It was just normal to help her to go out of the stadium. I hope she's going well now. I asked the umpire during the game and she said it's okay, but with the umpire you never know."

"I will double check if she's well now."

Tournament organisers later reported the girl was fine while Tsonga is through to the third round after beating Jasika 7-5 6-1 6-4.

We will bring you all the news, views, reaction and opinion from the Australian Open throughout the next fortnight.