Paris (AFP) – Long considered the heir of Yannick Noah, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will definitely put away his rackets after Roland-Garros, at the age of 37, at the end of a career made up of numerous blows and repeated injuries.
” I play, well or not, I groan, I shout, I scream with joy. My tennis is life “, summed up Tsonga a few years ago, lucid about his career made up of ups and downs.
With 18 titles, including two Masters 1000, Manceau is the second most sacred Frenchman behind Yannick Noah in the professional era. He has often come close to the stars in Grand Slams, but without succeeding in becoming the first Frenchman to win a major title since Noah’s coronation at Roland-Garros in 1983.
2008 like in a dream
For Tsonga, it all started in Melbourne. In January 2008, this unknown 22-year-old turned everything upside down to reach the Australian Open final.
” I was not in my world. I went from the guy who is 300th in the world, to whom we would almost give a small piece of bread to eat, to the guy who is there, in front of 15,000 people who shout his name ! “, will remember years later the Frenchman, compared by the Australian press to the boxer Mohammed Ali for his gestures, his way of encouraging himself and a certain physical resemblance.
Nevertheless, little Frenchy, son of a former handball player of Congolese origin and a teaching mother, made an impression: he eliminated Andy Murray (9th) but above all Rafael Nadal, world No.2 and then triple winner of Roland-Garros, swept away in three sets in the semi-final.
Only Novak Djokovic stops him. But what does this lost final matter: French tennis has its new Musketeer!
Armed with his devastating serve and forehand, Tsonga went on to win his first title in Bangkok, then his first Masters 1000, at Bercy. At the end of 2008, he was 6th in the world.
Colossus with feet of clay
But the shadow of wounds lurks. That spring, the colossus (1.88 m, 91 kg) had knee surgery, staying away from the courts for several months.
A scenario that will pursue him throughout a career that almost never started, due to multiple physical glitches from his junior years.
In 2010, an abdominal tear deprived him of Roland-Garros and a painful knee from the Davis Cup final lost in Serbia. This was followed by injuries to the patellar tendon (2013), forearm (2015), adductors (2016) or hamstrings (2018). Each time, Tsonga comes back.
“Thumb Dance”
In 2011, he was semi-finalist at Wimbledon, after a spectacular quarter won against Federer. A final at Bercy and at the Masters followed.
The following year saw the return of the “thumb dance” with which he celebrated his victories: he rose to the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros, becoming the first Frenchman of the Open era to reach this level in the four “Major” ones. He then reached the last four at Wimbledon and finished the year 5th in the world, his best ranking. In all, Tsonga will have spent 260 weeks in the Top 10.
But his great regret will undoubtedly remain the semi-final lost at Roland-Garro in 2013. Thirty years after Noah, history reaches out to him. After having mastered Federer, then 3rd in the world, in the quarters, David Ferrer seems within reach. But, paralyzed by the stakes, Tsonga misses his big meeting.
After the game, ” I wanted to break everything, to mutilate myself “, he will declare, frustrated at not having been able to show his best level in front of ” his » public. Because, beyond his prize list, rich with another Masters 1000 in Toronto in 2014, Tsonga will remain, with Gaël Monfils, one of the darlings of tricolor fans.
” In France, the public has always been extremely benevolent towards me (…) It is a very powerful source of motivation. The least you can do is to give him back this support, to honor him by wetting the jersey “.
Founding member of the All In Tennis Academy, a new French training structure, Tsonga, married and father of a little boy, now wishes ” help french tennis“.