Shanghai - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga blamed clueless ball kids for his opening loss at the Masters Cup, with the petulant French player perhaps finding excuses for his own rookie mistakes on court.
A debutant at the year-end event, the hyper-fit 23-year-old who won the Paris title a week ago said he "lost energy" waiting for hardd-working ball kids to fetch him his towel frequently between points as he went down in Gold group play to Nikolay Davydenko in three sets.
"When I ask for my towel, my towel didn't come," lamented Tsgona, "When I ask for a ball, the ball didn't come. That's it."