JO-WILFRIED TSONGA, A former Australian Open runner-up and world number five, said Wednesday that he will retire from tennis after this year’s French Open.
“A few weeks ago I decided I was going to stop at Roland Garros this year,” the 36-year-old Tsonga said in a video posted to social media.
“It took me a long time to make this decision,” the Frenchman added. “My body is telling me, ‘You can’t go any further than what I give you.’”
Tsonga, unseeded, lost the 2008 Australian Open final to Novak Djokovic as the Serb claimed the first of his 20 Grand Slam titles.
He made it to the semi-finals twice at both the French Open and Wimbledon and finished runner-up to Roger Federer at the ATP Finals in 2011.
Tsonga earned Olympic silver in the men’s doubles alongside Michael Llodra at London 2012 and was part of France’s Davis Cup triumph in 2017.
He also won two Masters titles — in Paris in 2008 and Toronto in 2014.
However, his struggles with a number of different injuries in recent years has seen his ranking tumble to 220.
He won just one match at tour level last season before ending it prematurely following a first-round loss at Wimbledon.
Tsonga returned to action in Montpellier in February, with a view to planning the final stages of his career.
“I decided that I had to stop at a moment that I chose, a moment when I was able to go on the court,” he said.
“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.”
There are a lot of columns on this player across every outlet but none ever seem to address what exactly her concerns are and/or what would it take to get her to play for Norway again. It appears it started due to the Norway womens team not getting the same treatment as the mens team so proper order in putting their foot down until they got that, but as far as it was reported the Norwegians addressed that issue fairly comprehensively and yet she still won’t play.
Problem is that it doesn’t bring in as much money as the men’s game. You can expect to play in front of a fraction of the crowd and still expect the same money. That said, previous stories of the FAI expecting women’s teams to hand back gear and be out of pocket for representing their country is crazy. If the women’s game generates as much money, they should be paid accordingly, but as things stand, it doesn’t.
@Rocky: expenses being equal should be a given. The national team is the national team regardless of gender. There was a time the irish women got about €30 a day per diem while on international duty or at training camp etc which might not sound much but when you are taking your annual leave from working in the type of job a 21 or 22 year old might have it was nice to have. Of course the Big Cheese pulled that rug out from under them disgracefully.
@Rocky: But most are not talking about appearance money they’re talking about the basics. Proper kit, proper medical, proper training facilities, showcasing, insurance, and decent expenses. In many cases the latter is way more important as they don’t earn nearly as much as your average Male player…and if they are representing their country, which for most will be the height of media exposure, all of the above is the least they should be getting