Patrick Mouratoglou and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga aren’t exactly on the best of terms right now…
The Frenchmen disagree about the strength of the ATP Tour today, compared to 10-15 years ago.
Tsonga believes the tour was much more competitive back then, while Serena Williams’ former coach thinks the opposite.
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As the pair continued to debate their point on Instagram, a frustrated Mouratoglou claimed that Tsonga’s prime only lasted a year.
Weighing in on the debate, American tennis legend Andy Roddick called out Mouratoglou.
Andy Roddick says it’s dangerous for Patrick Mouratoglou to ‘discredit’ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s career
During the latest episode of ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘, the 2003 US Open champion shared his thoughts on the Mouratoglou/Tsonga beef.
“Jo [Wilfried Tsonga], I don’t know that he likes to be in these public fights, and I think that Patrick [Mouratoglou] doesn’t mind them at all,” said Roddick.
“I don’t know that I would ever say, I’d beat this guy every time, and that’s probably wrong to say if you’re Jo, and I really like Jo.
“Then Patrick saying his prime was one year…
“Let’s walk that out.
“Jo, I think, made semis of Slams in like five different years, was top 10, won Masters series in ’08, and then won one six or seven years later.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s Grand Slam breakdown
- F – 1 (2008 Australian Open)
- SF – 5 (2010 Australian Open, 2011 Wimbledon, 2012 Wimbledon, 2013 French Open, 2015 French Open)
- QF – 9 (2009 Australian Open, 2010 Wimbledon, 2011 US Open, 2012 French Open, 2013 Australian Open, 2015 US Open, 2016 Wimbledon, 2016 US Open, 2017 Australian Open)
“Five in the world, Grand Slam finalist, played a bunch of big matches, beaten all of the big three.
“As a coach, I think it’s dangerous to discredit a career like that flippantly.”
Roddick explained why someone in Mouratoglou’s position should be wary of making such bold statements.
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“I can’t imagine being 80 in the world going onto the court with a coach who had just discarded someone flippantly, saying they had one good year,” he said.
“That’s a tough one when you’re building players up. That’s a slippery slope.”
The former world number one disagreed with some of what Tsonga had to say, but believes Mouratoglou should have handled things differently.
“Jo saying, you’ve never [played], I do a show with Jon Wertheim, he’s never played pro tennis, I think he has a lot of great opinions, and provides context, and where we see it from is very different. I think there is a lot of space for that,” said Roddick.
“And [but], there’s no chance that Jon would sit here and be dismissive about anyone ranked five in the world, or had the career that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had. I think that’s dangerous when you don’t have the player pedigree to fall back on.
“I’m not saying you can’t have an opinion, but you shouldn’t be condescending when you don’t exactly know what it’s like.
“That rubbed me the wrong way a little bit.”
A timeline of the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga/Patrick Mouratoglou beef
- October 18, 2025 – Jo Wilfried Tsonga says Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are playing in a weaker era
“What I would have liked to see is [Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner] face [Juan Martin] Del Potro in the third round, [Andy] Murray in the round of 16, [Novak] Djokovic in the quarterfinal, [Roger] Federer in the semifinal, and [Rafael] Nadal in the final,” Tsonga told Univers Tennis.
“They are the only two, for now.”
- January 2, 2026 – Patrick Mouratoglou says he disagrees with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
“I don’t agree with what Jo said,” he told his Instagram followers.
“I don’t believe at all that those guys we’re talking about, [Jack] Draper, [Holger] Rune, [Alex] de Minaur, [Taylor] Fritz, [Ben] Shelton, [Felix] Auger-Aliassime, are not very good, not dangerous.
“They’re huge players.
“I’m sorry, Jo, but I’m not sure you would have beaten them on a regular basis.”
- January 5, 2026 – Patrick Mouratoglou claims Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s prime lasted one year
“Prime Jo was only one season,” he said, replying to a comment on Instagram.
- January 7, 2026 – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fires back at Patrick Mouratoglou
“You’ll remain just the coach. You will never have felt what it’s like to be a tennis player, to step into the arena. You’re not the best placed to give me lessons on the high level,” he said on an Instagram story.
It remains to be seen if Mouratoglou or Tsonga will have any more to say, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on…
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