Former world No.5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga says he is answering the calls of his body to retire from professional tennis at the age of 36.
The tennis star announced in a video on Wednesday that he will end his career at the upcoming French Open which will be the 20th anniversary of when he made his debut at the event in the men’s doubles draw. Tsonga is also a two-time semi-finalist in the tournament after reaching the last four in 2013 and 2015.
“A few weeks ago I decided I was going to stop at Roland Garros this year,” Tsonga said in a video posted to social media.
“It took me a long time to make this decision,” he added. “My body is telling me ‘you can’t go any further than what I give you’.”
Over the past two decades Tsonga has been a prominent force in French tennis after emerging from a generation of talented players from the country 20 years ago along with the likes of Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon. He first started to make a name for himself on the junior Tour by winning the 2003 US Open boys title. During that same year he reached the semi-finals at all three other junior Grand Slam events.
A year later Tsonga got his first taste of life on the ATP Tour at the age of 19 by stunning the then world No.6 Carlos Moya in the first round of the China Open. However, his rise was then halted by a series of injury setbacks which sidelined him from the Tour for weeks. It wasn’t until 2007 when he broke into the world’s top 50 for the first time.
Throughout his career Tsonga has achieved numerous milestones, including reaching the final of the 2008 Australian Open. He missed out on the title to Novak Djokovic who at the time won his maiden major title. He also reached back-to-back semi-finals at the US Open in 2011 and 2012. On the Tour he won 18 ATP titles with two of those being at Masters 1000 events in Paris (2008) and Canada (2014). Furthermore, he won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games in the doubles alongside Michael Llodra and was part of France’s Davis Cup triumph in 2017.
“I decided that I had to stop at a moment that I chose, a moment when I was able to go on the court,” Tsonga said of his upcoming retirement.
“I have always set myself high goals to try to get what I can. For me, this will be the opportunity to do it one last time.”
According to the ATP, Tsonga has the second-second highest winning rate on the Tour among French players at 66.5%. Only Yannick Noah (69.6%) is above him in the list. He has beaten Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer when they were all ranked No.1 in the world, as well as in a Grand Slam tournament. Something few other players have been able to achieve. He also won 30 or more matches in 11 out of 12 seasons played between 2008 and 2019. Against top 10 opponents, Tsonga has registered 45 wins throughout his career.
According to L’Equipe, Tsonga plans to play tournaments in Monte Carlo, Alex en Provence and Lyon before ending his career at the French Open.
