By Joël Pütz | Sports journalist
Among the best French Tennis players of his generation and even in history, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has never reached the hoped-for heights. Retired for several years, the former player recently made a cash decision on his discipline.
Aside from Yannick Noah, no Frenchman has won more tournaments than him. Active from 2004 to 2022, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has no reason to be ashamed of his career marked by 18 singles titles as well as two Masters 1000 victories. Alongside Richard Gasquet and Gaël Monfils, he was THE face of small ball yellow of his generation in France.
We are, after all, talking about a player who even reached fifth place in the world rankings in 2012, at a time when there were monsters such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. However, the native of Le Mans has never managed to rise to their level, for example only playing in one final of a Grand Slam tournament in 2008 during the Australian Open, facing to Serbian legend.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga without concessions on his tennis career
Retired for two years, Tsonga has since had plenty of time to take stock of his career. Recently invited on Gaël Monfils' podcast, he was asked the question of why he had never won a Grand Slam, which many French fans hoped for. The colossus (1m88 and 91 kilos) answered honestly:
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Do I have to answer? (laughs) Because I wasn't good enough. In reality, people start to… you want to extrapolate, I wasn't good enough, period. That's the answer, I wasn't good enough. Afterwards, was I good enough to get where I went? Yes, because I did it. You didn't go further, you weren't good enough.
No matter the circumstances, no matter what happened around it, tennis ruled. (…) No, (he does not regret not having won a Grand Slam). When you train 4.5, 6 hours a day, you go to tournaments, you take five guys with you to accompany you, to help you be better there… At the end of the day, life is It's choices. I made choices in my career, I took responsibility. I thought it was going to take me higher, it took me there, very good.
A very philosophical vision of things on the part of the tennis player, especially since the competition was enormous. Having also missed out on a Grand Slam, Monfils perfectly illustrated this observation with a totally lunar comparison:
Rafael Nadal, he still won Roland-Garros more times than I won titles. And you're asking me to win Roland-Garros?
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has perhaps never managed to rise to the level of the best players of his generation, but the Frenchman remains calm and without too many regrets about his career on the courts. And he is right, he who can boast of having led a career rarely equaled in French tennis.
