His time has come. In May, the former world number five will say goodbye to his career

The career of French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is coming to an end. The winner of 18 ATP tournaments has announced that he will finally hang up his racket at his home Grand Slam in Paris. This comes after five years of being plagued by protracted health problems.

Tsonga was part of a strong generation of tennis players who were the waiting list for the famous Big Four (back then, Murray was also among Federer, Nadal and Djokovic). Nevertheless, he managed to make a significant impact and climbed up to the fifth place in the world rankings.

“It took me quite a long time to come to this decision,” Tsonga said of the end of his career. “But a couple of weeks ago I decided that I’m done at Roland Garros this year. My body told me it wasn’t going to give me any more time.”

In doing so, the Frenchman was reminded of his lingering health issues that have been with him since 2018. Back then, Tsonga had to have surgery on his knee, which sidelined him from play from February to September. Although the knee troubles have resolved, since 2019, the back problems have kicked in, which were most evident last year and this year.

“I decided to quit right now because I can,” he noted, adding that he wanted to say goodbye on the court and not because of the injury. “I’ve always set big goals to try to get the most I can. This will be the last opportunity for me to do that,” he added.

A successful career

So the successful French tennis player’s career will come to an end at the beginning of June at the latest. In addition to his promotion to the world top five, he has won 18 titles on the ATP circuit. He last rejoiced in 2019 at his home indoor events in Mettet and Montpellier.

Tsonga has also been a regular for France. He won the Davis Cup with France in 2017 and celebrated his Hopman Cup victory in 2014. At the 2012 London Olympics, he won the silver medal in the doubles event.

His greatest success at Grand Slam tournaments came in 2008 at the Australian Open, when he reached the final. He also reached the semi-finals in Melbourne in 2010 and was among the top four at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2012 and at Roland Garros in 2013 and 2015.

He also qualified for the final Tournament of Champions a total of three times. In 2011, he achieved his best result at the ATP Finals, making it all the way to the final.

Source: ATP