Marseilles (AFP)

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a year away from the courts by injury, scored his first victory since 2019 on Tuesday, beating Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the ATP tournament. Marseille, a success he described as a "miracle".

"It's unbelievable to me. It's like the best victory of my career," Tsonga smiled after the game, saying he was "happy as a kid".

The French (35), had not won a match since November 2019. In 2020, injuries to the pelvis and then to the back had forced him to an almost blank season, with only two games played and lost.

"It has been a long way to get there, for a little over a year. I was in pain for months, I couldn't carry my son, run after him, play sports anymore. ... I couldn't get anywhere. So being there, in Marseille, in a tournament that I particularly cherish, and being able to win a match, it's moving, "then explained Tsonga, three-time winner of the event. (2009, 2013 and 2017), at a press conference.

"I heard everything around me, + he is finished, he can no longer play + ... For me, to have played tennis is a miracle, to have won so many tournaments, it is a miracle, to have had this career, it's a miracle. But today's miracle beats all these miracles ", he also assured.

- "totally utopian" -

For his return to the circuit, the French lost two weeks ago in the first round of the Montpellier tournament against the American Sebastian Korda.

"Today I was able to serve normally. I try to be efficient, to leave as little energy as possible on the court. Then, I hope that I will be able to improve myself, to move better", a explained Tsonga.

"For me it's already a miracle to win a match, so I have no ambition to win the tournament at all," he also said, in response to a question about his goals for the rest of the tournament. Marseilles.

"I will already aim to win a second match, but lifting a trophy is totally utopian," he added.

In the next round, Tsonga will face his compatriot Ugo Humbert, 31st in the world, on Wednesday, who will enter the running.

"We trained together a lot of times, we played doubles together. I know it's going to be a good showdown. He's very good, he's improved a lot. But I'm not going to give him anything and I'm going to try. to play my best tennis, ”Tsonga said.

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