Eliminated in his first match, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gives up his arms and tears – Liberation

Defeated in four sets in the first round by the Norwegian Casper Ruud, the Frenchman has just played the last match of his career on Tuesday.

The public of Philippe-Chatrier will not have been entitled to a last dance of the thumbs. Tuesday, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost in the first round Porte d’Auteuil against the Norwegian Casper Ruud (8th in the world), for what will therefore remain as the 705th and final game in the Frenchman’s career. The latter had announced, a few weeks ago, to retire at the end of the Parisian tournament.

The spectators, too few when the players arrived – before the stadium filled up over the course of the game – will have believed in the feat for a time: Manceau, fallen to 267th place after several months without playing, won the first round in the tie-break, to everyone’s surprise. Then the Norwegian, physically fresher, ended up making the difference in nearly four hours of play. Obviously diminished by a right shoulder injury, Tsonga fought valiantly until the last point, crying on the match point , before bowing out to long applause from his opponent and the audience.

At 37, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retires with one of the finest records of French tennis, with 18 career titles, including two Masters 1000, a Grand Slam final at the 2008 Australian Open, a silver medal in doubles at the London Olympics in 2012 with Michaël Llodra, and a Davis Cup title (in 2017 against Belgium).