Tsonga vs Berdych: Who can win a Slam?

First topic message reminder :

Jo Wilfred Tsonga. The charismatic Frenchman who loves fun and playing tennis.
Tomas Berdych. The icy faced 'silent assassin' from the Czech Republic.

Alas, these two musketeers in the men's game may have a contrast in personality but they do share one thing in common: deadly power.

The question I pose to 606v2 today is not whether either player will win a slam but:
Who (out of Tsonga and Berdych) is more likely to win a Grand Slam in their career?

Achievements:
Tsonga and Berdych are both ranked #6 and #7 respectfully. Tsonga's highest rankings is #5, while Berdych has been #6.
Tsonga and Berdych have reached 1 Grand Slams Final each, Tsonga in Australian Open 2008, while Berdych reached the Wimbledon Final in 2010 but neither has won a major. Both have also won a Masters Series Title- in Paris indoors.
The Czech and the Frenchman beat Roger Federer in 2010 and 2011 respectively. In-fact I believe Berdych's sublime 4 set performance has been unfairly forgotten after Tsonga's heroic comeback in 2011. Meanwhile Tsonga's best result in a Grand Slam was not Wimbledon 2011 but AO 2008, when he crushed Murray and Nadal before eventually losing in the final.

Gameplay:
Gamestyle: Both have similar strategies: Attack and beat your opponent into submission. Berdych, 6"5 and Tsonga 6"2 both have massive serves which is key to their game. For me Tsonga's serve is a bit more inconsistent, but as Roger Federer can testify after the last 3 sets of the 2011 Wimbledon QF, can switch at anytime to absolutely devastating.
Movement: Tsonga has the edge. The Frenchman never fears diving around the court, despite the fact he is not as agile as Djokovic. Berdych's movement is good for a man of his size though, better than the likes of Del Potro and Cilic.
Groundstrokes: This is very hard to call. On bad days both players are prone to making unforced errors and sloppy mistakes, but lethal when firing well. Tsonga's shots have a larger back-swing and follow through while Berdych's groundstrokes are more 'static'.
Variety: Neither player uses the slice or dropshot excessively, but Tsonga, who does not have a coach, is much more likely to experiment during a match with a different range of shots. (however sometimes this can be his downfall!) Tsonga is a much better player at the net, if not for anything it is his brave tendency to dive which gives him exceptional reach.

Record against the Top 4:
Tsonga:
3-8 vs Federer
5-6 vs Djokovic
1-6 vs Murray
3-7 vs Nadal
Overall: 0-4 and 31%

Berdych:
4-11 vs Federer
1-9 vs Djokovic
4-2 vs Murray
3-12 vs Nadal
Overall 1-3 and 26%


Judgement:
As I have said, the question is of who is more likely to win a slam. Overall I feel it will be very difficult for either Tsonga or Berdych to win a Slam in the near future as they are behind the Top 4 in the pecking order (but still above Del Potro and Ferrer I believe).
However if I had to choose who is more likely I must say it is very close to call! Both have big power games who have shown the trouble the big guns, but to win a major they might have to beat 3 of the top 4 in a row. Nevertheless I would give the edge to Tsonga, as in the bigger moments I feel he is mentally superior to Berdych, but not by much!

Berdych has a tired Djoko in the QF, Ferret in the SF.
Could this be his chance?

It Must Be Love wrote:Berdych has a tired Djoko in the QF, Ferret in the SF.
Could this be his chance?

Well, he has more chance after the epic we've all just watched.... But Novak is made of iron. It would not surprise me in the slightest if he's physically fine against Berdych.

Danny_1982 wrote:

It Must Be Love wrote:Berdych has a tired Djoko in the QF, Ferret in the SF.
Could this be his chance?

Well, he has more chance after the epic we've all just watched.... But Novak is made of iron. It would not surprise me in the slightest if he's physically fine against Berdych.

I agree with Danny. He played two 5+ hour matches in 2012. There is nothing to indicate that the current situation is otherwise. Berdych may stretch Djokovic, but the man of steel and elastic is a formidable player.

Based on earlier performance and seeing how easily Djokovic beat Berdych again today, I would say Tsonga has better chances to win a Slam.

Berdych might be slightly more consistent than Tsonga, but Jo-Willy has more variety (e.g. great hands at the net) and IMO has more of a winners' mentality than Berdych. When Tsonga is firing on all cylinders, he is more or less unstoppable (as Nadal and Federer have experienced). He also almost beat Djokovic at Roland Garros while clay is clearly his least-favorite surface.

For these guys to go through three of the "big four" (QF-SF-F) is almost impossible. I guess they need to bundle their forces and knock out several big four members at the QF stage.

Ferrer has been lucky to take Nadal's quarter, but I can't see him beating Djokovic let alone beating Federer/Murray in the next match!