It is now a page that turns to Jo Wilfried Tsonga. The athlete decided to end his tennis career on May 24 after his elimination against the Norwegian Casper Ruud in the first round of Roland-Garros. He notably returned to this choice on Monday May 30 on the set of C to you, which he qualifies as a “release” for his body and his mind. Because yes, tennis is tiring! His body has been put to the test. He has not been spared from injuries, whether in the back, arms, shoulders or even legs and in particular the knees. So many physical glitches that did not help him to flourish.
The 37-year-old explained the mental fatigue that comes on top of that, especially from constantly moving from place to place. “We travel a lot” he says. “We are more than 40 weeks away from home, between hotels, planes and time differences. Then the matches which are tiring, we play almost every day when we are in a tournament” he adds. Without forgetting that a tennis player is led, most of the time in his career, to lose more often than he wins, as noted by the journalist to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who confirmed this hypothesis. One more reason to feel tired, both physically and morally.
A beautiful and long career
But he can however be proud to have played at the highest level until the age of 37, which is not nothing! “Previous generations often went a little less far. Now, advances in medicine and science mean that at some point we can play a little longer.” did he declare. Then he continues:We manage to recover from certain injuries where we did not recover very well before, which allows players to have a slightly longer career.
In addition to his remarkable longevity, the former tennis player can boast of having won several tournaments in his career such as the Davis Cup with France or thee Paris-Bercy Masters. 18 singles tracks, in total. He even came close to victory at the Australian Open in 2008, one of the grand slam tournaments, since he lost in the final against the Serbian and current world number 1 in the ATP ranking Novak Djokovic who recently been criticized. Hats off to the artist!