"It's true that it's still very special (...) It's special. I don't even know what word to use. I can't say it's a great feeling or that it's a bad", tried to explain the 37-year-old player who announced in March that he would put away his rackets at the end of the Parisian meeting on clay.

The inevitable approach of this planned, announced, desired end begins to weigh because it "really materializes".

"It's a moment that, for me anyway, I'm sure, will be filled with emotion. I admit that I'm not trying too hard to apprehend it. I let it come and it will be as it will be" , confided the future retiree.

If he obtained his best Grand Slam result at the Australian Open with his final in 2008 lost against Novak Djokovic - who then won the first of his twenty Grand Slam titles to date - Tsonga has still reached twice in the semi-finals at Roland-Garros (2013, beaten by David Ferrer, and 2015, beaten by Stan Wawrinka) despite a clay court that is less suited to his power play, relying in particular on a big serve.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga poses with the finalist board next to Novak Djokovic after his Australian Open final loss to the Serb on January 27, 2008 in Melbourne GREG WOOD AFP/Archives

"Not a specialist"

"It's true that I was not a clay court specialist. It's not a surface on which I had the best results", he admits easily, while emphasizing that Roland-Garros had always had for him something "special", from the ground to the audience to the balls.

"Everything I did was really different from what I experienced in other tournaments. I always arrived very confident here, even though I hadn't necessarily won a lot of matches in the previous weeks", notes the 297th in the world, recipient of an invitation.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reacts during his semi-final against the Spaniard David Ferrer, his best result at Roland-Garros, on June 7, 2013 in Paris THOMAS COEX AFP / Archives

So this time too, he is counting on the perhaps magical effect that this tournament has had on him.

And besides, he hasn't changed anything in his routine.

"I'm in my tournament. I'm not going to disperse. I'm not going to go around the stadium or whatever. We have obligations that we stick to. Until my first match, I'm going to do what necessary, what a normal tennis player does: I will preserve myself to be the best possible on the court", assures Tsonga who also competes in the doubles tournament with his compatriot Richard Gasquet.

Player until the end

"I will remain a tennis player until I am no longer in the tournament", he summarizes.

At that time, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) should offer him the opportunity to experience it on one of the main courts at Roland-Garros, the Philippe-Chatrier or, "it's possible", he believes, the Suzanne Lenglen.

Anyway, Manceau will not be alone: ​​the public, who have returned en masse after two editions marked by reduced gauges due to covid, will be behind them.

"I hope this will be his last match!" Ruud said after his title on Saturday in Geneva.

"But you never know, he will certainly be supported by 10-15,000 French people, it will be a completely new atmosphere for me," added the Norwegian.

The Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final of the Geneva tournament against the Portuguese Joao Sousa on May 21, 2022 GABRIEL MONNET AFP / Archives

Among these thousands of supporters, there will be many close to Tsonga.

The latter also recognizes that the organizers are doing what they can to help him "to satisfy everyone", but that would represent "250-300 places" and therefore he will have to make "small arbitrations".

Especially since the match against Ruud may not be the last.

"It's true that it's still the unknown for me, so I'm not planning. I'm going to go there, give everything I have, he assures. If it's enough to pass , well, I take it with great pleasure and I will be very happy to be back on the court. If not, it will be my last game and I will have enjoyed it all."

© 2022 AFP