At Roland Garros,

Let's start by agreeing: the one who hasn't cried is a liar.

Moreover, we want the same for our retirement pot, even if it will necessarily be less flashy, and not before 30 years if we count correctly.

Note that we thought we should postpone to Thursday.

Tsonga, who hasn't won a match for months, fought an unsuspected fight against Casper Ruud, one of the circuit's captains on ocher, in a Central de Roland-Garros quickly charmed although too long dozed under his Panama rows.

Winogradsky, the trainer from the start, had smelled the odor of the big blow during the morning warm-up: “he was hitting well, relaxed, with the right vibes.

I thought to myself why not”.

We believed in miracles

And why not ?

First bullets from a bull in heat, mammoth forehands, and even his useless little treats that we learned to appreciate over time, like those one-handed backhands that lead nowhere.

At 6-5, service to follow to take us to the harem of the fifth sets, under a Marseillaise to make your calf hair shiver, Jo was ten years younger.

Except that the shoulder had dropped on the forehand of the break.

"There was panache, a good script, a solid opponent in front, that sums up my career a bit, doesn't it?

".

End of a long journey: a thousand pro matches, eighteen titles, six Grand Slam semi-finals, we spare you the Wikipedia page.


Either way, the best is yet to come.

A ceremony prepared by Noura, his wife, and Evelyne, his mother, in close contact with the Fed.

Everyone is there: his coaches from a very young age, his friends, his close family, and even, a little icing on the cake, all the French players of his time: Herbert, Gasquet, Monfils, and Simon, who will soon be there. also.

It's the chialance in the stands, and Tsonga struggles to remain dignified, thinking that the tributes of Murray, Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer scroll on the giant screen.

“I've always had a lot of fun losing against you Jo, jokes the Swiss.

Enjoy this moment”.

The speech of the best tricolor player of the 21st century is a bit robotic, but it is a way to control his emotions.

Many thanks, and a little spade for the media, here.

“One day I was Swiss, one day I was French, one day I was the national hero, one day I was the usurper”.

We'll pass the towel.

Tsonga was French every day for us, and he made us believe in this damn Grand Slam until the end.

How many times have we replayed this Australian final of 2008, this fifth set which stretched out his arms against a still baby Djoko.

"Wino" plunges back into it on his own: "He like me, we didn't have the experience, he had climbed so high, so quickly... He was stronger than Djokovic that day but he didn't know put on a coat when needed and I couldn't tell him".

Would his career have been changed for all that?

"I'm not sure it would have stopped him from getting all those injuries…"

Right behind Noah in the pantheon

There would at least not have been a debate on the place of the man in the pantheon of French tennis: at the very top, even higher than Yannick Noah, perhaps, who had not had to wrestle with the three best players of history at the same time.

Enzo, the brother, does not care a bit.

"Jo is just someone who believes a lot in himself, who has a lot of audacity, great strength of character and he's a hard worker.

Even today, he has pushed his limits.

It's a lot of pride when you see giants of this sport talking about him like that.

Their embrace on the court was a little longer than the others.

"I just said 'thank you for making us dream once again'".

And us with.

Damn it's hard to grow old.

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  • Roland Garros 2022