Roger Rasheed hopes to mould Jo-Wilfried Tsonga into home-court hero Roger Rasheed says world No 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had a need to be driven to a new level. A SEAT inside Court Philippe Chatrier has Roger Rasheed's name on it. "I've been lucky," Rasheed told The Australian after parachuting into the biggest sports story in France as the coach of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. I worked with Lleyton Hewitt and he obviously has his home grand slam. The same with Gael Monfils and now there's Jo. There's a lot of scrutiny because of their profiles and the hopes that millions of people have for them. To have a French winner of the French Open would be enormous and I love the day-to-day process of working under that sort of cut-throat expectation. You're preparing for a grand slam and putting your player out in front of his home nation. Jo can can go a long way in this tournament if everything goes right and for me, that's bloody exciting. All the responsibility and scrutiny that goes with the job, bring it on. Tsonga has the artillery required to become the French Open's first home-grown male champion since Yannick Noah in 1983 if his NBA-style athleticism, occasionally dubious powers of concentration, previously satellite-level backhand, bazooka of a forehand and rocket launcher of a serve are in alignment for the rest of the week. His quest has sparked saturation media coverage to rival Andy Murray's campaigns at Wimbledon and his quarter-final on Chatrier tonight against Roger Federer has been granted the status of nationwide blockbuster. Tsonga recruited the Adelaide-born Rasheed to drive previously unseen levels of fitness and grit. "There's no limit, really, to where Jo can go and what he can do in the sport," Rasheed said. He's eight in the world and he can add so much more to what he's already got. That's pretty exciting but I've got to deliver it, he's got to embrace it and we see where the cards fall after that. Fitness is a big part of it. It's a bit of a no-brainer in my mind; why wouldn't you tick that box? Once you've done that, it keeps your mind in a better frame and the decisions you make on the court are more sound for longer periods of time. You add the tennis package to that, the technical and the structural. Jo spent 18 months without a coach and obviously thought he needed to be pushed and challenged and motivated to a new level. He needed to have someone's eyeballs on him to drive him. He gave me a call and to be honest, it's been a natural fit. Tsonga pushed Federer to five sets at the Australian Open in January. "Jo hasn't dropped a set yet and that helps; you're fuelled up as much as you can be," Rasheed said. You just have to get your teeth into the match. Once you're in a dog fight - the guys end up doing their own thing anyway. What do you control? It's about who's selecting the right shots and who's pulling the trigger at the right times. They get in their own world and go for it and that's why it's pretty exciting for them. That match in Melbourne was a classic five-setter and I'd expect we're going to see a similar level here. Part of Jo's education has been trying to get him to relax with all this spotlight. Relax and absorb it and love it. What you see is what you get with Jo. He's competitive but he gets life as well. There's a lot of upsides to working with him. Tsonga's progress through the draw at Roland Garros has dominated the media. "Close your ears, Rafa," was the unapologetic command from Jean Gachassin, the president of the Federation Francaise de Tennis, when he was performing the French Open draw with a suddenly slack-jawed Rafael Nadal before the tournament began. But I dream of giving the Coupe des Mousquetaires to a French player on Sunday, June 9, on the 30th anniversary of Yannick Noah's victory.