Tsonga says women more unstable emotionally

France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has risked igniting a gender relations storm by provocatively suggesting women's players are more "unstable emotionally" than the men.

Tsonga, speaking after he bowed out of the Australian Open quarterfinals against Roger Federer late on Wednesday, was asked why the women's game does not have a settled top three or four like the men.

"You know, the girls, they are more unstable emotionally than us. I'm sure everybody will say it's true, even the girls," he said, to laughter in the media room. "No? No, you don't think?