ATP Marseille – Freed from pain, Tsonga wants to take care of his exit: “I continue to progress”

Little by little, he becomes a tennis player again. Falling back to 243rd in the world after having played only 11 times (for a tiny victory) during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga can once again practice his passion which is also his profession. For the third consecutive week, the 36-year-old Manceau (37 in April) is thus aligned with an ATP tournament since he will face his compatriot Gilles Simon in a “vintage” duel in the 1st round of the Open 13 Provence. A great opportunity to continue the restart of a slightly rusty machine but which is gradually finding its bearings.

Eliminated in the 2nd round of the Quimper Challenger, in the 2nd round of the ATP 250 in Montpellier by pushing the 36th in the world Filip Krajinovic in the tie-break of the second set, then in the 1st round of the ATP 500 in Rotterdam by losing there also in the tie-break (9/7) against the 11th world Hubert Hurkacz, Tsonga is physically fit but is not yet satisfied with his game. “From my point of view, it’s not there yet, but I’m very happy because there has been an evolution and as the matches progress, I feel that the automatic mechanisms are getting back in place. Physically I am more and more liberated, I continue to progress“, he analyzes.

Engaged in Challenger in the process, he has only one obsession: to play

And for the sensations to improve further, there are no secrets: you have to get used to the competition again, to its demands and to the stress that accompanies it. “I try to play as much as possible, I don’t calculate: if I have to go play a Challenger to play matches, I go there because I know very well that there is only replay games and making the most of points and real game situations that I will continue to improve. Especially since in four years, I’ve played one year… and that’s not a lot“, he underlines.

If he passes the 1st round of this Open 13, which he has won three times (2009, 2013 and 2017), a possible meeting with Félix Auger-Aliassime awaits him. A man in good shape at the moment, just crowned with the first title of his career in Rotterdam, the Canadian looks like an almost insurmountable obstacle for Tsonga. Aware that neither the invitations nor his ranking now protect him against this type of complicated draw, he anticipated the rest. After this Marseille tournament, of which he is the main shareholder, the former world number 5 is thus engaged in the Challenger de Pau.

His body has given him almost no respite in recent years: in addition to an underlying sickle cell disease (genetic disease affecting red blood cells and causing great fatigue), he suffered from knees, vertebrae, sacral joint iliac which calcified, forcing him to give up in the 1st round of the Australian Open in 2020. He only resumed the 2021 season in dotted lines at the end of February in Montpellier before ending it on a defeat in the 1st round at Wimbledon. But he recovered well from his last glitch, a tear in the calf. “I have no more pain and it’s extraordinary“, welcomes Tsonga.

“On the other hand, I have restrictions related to my injuries because you don’t come out unscathed from a double herniated disc, you don’t come out unscathed from an operation on each knee, you don’t come out unscathed from a joint that froze“, he points out. The loss of mobility induced forces him to compensate and modify certain things in his game, which is what he needs to play matches for. So what goal does he set himself? The same that he had set himself in 2019: “Return to a good level to regain pleasure and leave with your head held high“, he explains.

“I could very well have said to myself: ‘I’m quitting’ when I give up in Australia in 2020. I could have said to myself: ‘It’s okay, I’ve worked hard enough for a year to come back, I came back and I I’m hurting again… The doctors don’t know how long I have it, it can last 6 months or 5 years.’ I hesitated a lot, but I wanted to give myself a chance to stop with my head held high and playing tennis properly. It’s a challenge that I set myself: to stop but at a time when I decided, at a time when I am able to play at a certain level“, asserts Tsonga. In short, regaining control of his destiny to close a magnificent chapter of his life.