French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was a winner on Wednesday, and it had little to do with beating Omar Jasika in straight sets at the Australian Open.
Tsonga, the No. 9 seed in the tournament, came to the aid of a ball girl in distress during the third set of Wednesday's match and won accolades on social media from fans who called him a gentleman.
Tsonga was serving in the third set when he said he noticed the girl was rattled from being struck in the face by a ball, so he paused and walked over to her to see what was wrong. He almost immediately called for help, then looped his arm through hers and escorted the ball girl off the court.
"It's just normal," Tsonga told Michael Chammas of The Sydney Morning Herald after the match. "She was really in trouble and the eyes were a bit [teary]. 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."
Tsonga said it took him a while to realize the girl was in distress.
"At the start I thought she was normal, because she always send me ball on the side so I said, 'What happened to her?' After the second time I saw she was in trouble. I just came to her and helped her go out because she was in a bad [state]," Tsonga said.
As for the reaction on social media to what he did, Tsonga seemed overwhelmed.
"I didn't know it was going to be something like this," Tsonga said.
Tournament officials said the ball girl was a little under the weather, but was otherwise fine.
Staying busy
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson didn't play this season after tearing his ACL during a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that doesn't mean he didn't find ways to stay busy.
When he wasn't rehabilitating his injury, Nelson had plenty of time to try other things -- like serving as a substitute teacher for a third-grade class.
Nelson said he volunteered to be a substitute teacher at his son's school when he learned a teacher left to receive treatment for cancer. In a video for a men's skin care product, there are clips of him introducing himself as "Mr. Nelson," teaching a simple multiplication problem and leading a single-file line of third graders down a hallway.
"I had incredible teachers growing up, and they gave me so much that I just wanted to give it back," Nelson said in the video. "Honestly, sometimes teaching is more difficult than football."
In addition to substitute teaching, Nelson said he spent a lot of time working on his family's farm in Kansas. He normally puts in 12-hour days on the farm during the offseason.
"I probably identify more as a farmer [than a football player]," Nelson recently told ESPN.
Sports quiz
Where was Jordy Nelson selected in the 2008 NFL Draft?
Answer
Nelson was selected in the second round, with the 36th overall pick, by the Green Bay Packers.
Sports on 01/22/2016