Joe-Wilfred Tsonga couldn’t do as much as he wanted to. And, he said later, he knew he wouldn’t do it. So they flowed freely in the final moments of his final match at Roland-Garros, the final single match of his professional tennis career, and he wiped them off with a black sweatband on his left wrist.
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They weren’t there because the right shoulder was so painful that he couldn’t swing his racket properly at the end of 6-7 (8), 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (0). No. 8 pick in court Philippe Chatterjee lost to Caspar Rudd. They were there because he knew he had tried to win the match, heard the roar of support from the spectators, had the high and low experience of a professional tennis career that ranked 5th, a race at the Australian Open final in 2008 and France’s first in 16 years. Davis Cup title – also a series of injuries.
He has been limited to a total of 18 matches since the beginning of 2021, turned 37 last month, now has a family and knew that this trip to Roland-Garros would be the perfect way to say goodbye.
“It simply came to our notice then. One of the best environments I’ve seen in my career (for) my last match. I couldn’t ask for anything better, “said Tsonga. “I couldn’t have asked for a better script than I could have won.”
He seems to have a chance to extend the match by going ahead 6-5 in the fourth set. But at the end of that game, he shrugged his shoulders and that’s what happened. Rudd returns quickly, and Tsonga is visited by a trainer who tried to help but could not. During the three-minute medical timeout, a band on the stand applauds fans and shouts “Joe! Joe!” To the beat of a drum beat, then “La Marseilles” is played as some of the seats sang along to the French national anthem.
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When the game resumed, Tsonga could barely hit the ball at 100km / h – less than half the speed he was known for – even trying to hit a left-handed shot as the tiebreaker ended. Shout. No matter. The locals greeted Tsonga by standing for a long time, and she went to the net, knelt down, and laid her forehead on the ground, creating rust-colored clay marks on her face.
Asked later what he would miss most as he left the game, he replied: “Adrenaline, setting foot on such a big court. Adrenaline You can feel when your 15,000 people shout your name.
It all offered the most exciting moments of the third day, including US Open champion Daniel Medvedev, No. 7 pick Andre Rublev and No. 24 Frances Tiafo, who were 0-6 to Roland Garros, in the men’s brackets, including first-round wins. .
Danish teenager Holger Rune defeated No. 14 Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
The women who advanced to the second round include 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko, 2018 champion Simona Halep, 9th Daniel Collins, 11th Jessica Pegula and 22nd Madison Kiss.
Tsonga went on to win the Grand Slam match with 121 wins, a record for a Frenchman. This is a difficult time for tennis in the country of Roland-Garros: for the first time since 1980, the country had zero men or women in the tournament.
Another member of Tsonga’s talented generation, Gilles Simon, said he would retire at the end of the season. Another, Gayle Monfils, missed Roland-Garos because he needed ankle surgery – although he was there for a post-match leisure at the Chatterjee on Tuesday, along with many others who refer to Tsonga more: other players; A team of her trainers when she was dating as a child; His wife and children; His parents.
There was a video tribute to the four greatest male players of the era – Novak Djokovic (who called Tsonga’s retirement a “big loss for professional men’s tennis”), Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray (“You were a great ambassador to the game,” he told Tsonga). – and a series of lectures.
“You have been an inspiration to me and to many young players around the world,” said Ruud, a 23-year-old Norwegian who joked about being sad when his favorite player, Nadal, lost to Songer in Australia at the age of 10. Open “Thank you for all the memories.”
No. 3 pick Paula Badosa, whose 6-2, 6-0 victory over Fiona Ferrero of France, after Tsonga vs Rudd in Chatterjee, said she was “extremely emotional” watching the whole scene. Later, he ran up to Sangar while they were interviewing and jokingly told him that he was upset that all the hustle and bustle on him had delayed the start of his match – then asked him to pose for a photo with him.
He was compelled.
What are you waiting for now? She said she would have to undergo a medical examination on her shoulder on Wednesday, which she said was bad enough that she could not hold her baby.
But Sanga was proud to play till the end instead of losing the match – well, tried to play.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t finish the way I wanted to, but I finished on the court, I played like all my career, I ran behind the ball,” Tsonga said. “It simply came to our notice then. And anyway, this is going to be a good moment in my head. Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either.
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