Among the French, the retirements of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Roland-Garros and Gilles Simon at Bercy underlined the extent to which this generation left a void behind.

A nostalgia brightened by the return to the fore in the women's category of Caroline Garcia, who again became 4th in the world by winning the Masters at the end of the year, after having reached the semi-finals at the US Open.

World No.1 Ashleigh Barty opened the farewell ball in March, to everyone's surprise.

She was only 25 years old, three Grand Slam titles to her name (Roland-Garros 2019, Wimbledon 2021 and Australia 2022), but the desire was no longer there.

Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia during the WTA Masters on November 5, 2022 in Fort Worth © Katelyn Mulcahy / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives

This was followed by the historic but long-awaited farewell of Serena Williams (23 Majors, final score), who took advantage of the megastage of the Arthur-Ashe court in Flushing Meadows in September to offer herself a spectacular start - and in three rounds - a few days before his 41st birthday, in front of an audience studded with stars.

A few days later, she posted a message on social networks wishing "welcome to the pensioners' club" to Roger Federer.

American Serena Williams during her US Open 2022 third round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic on September 2, 2022 in New York © ANGELA WEISS / AFP/Archives

Because the Swiss too, physically unable to play in competition, ended up bowing out.

At 41, he staged his departure during an exhibition, the Laver Cup in London, which caused a wave of emotion in the world.

The Master's Tears

The tears of the Master (20 Grand Slam titles) and perhaps even more those of his friend Nadal who saw the most important opponent of his own career leave the scene, a prelude to his very next outing, illustrated well the end of a blessed era of tennis.

Swiss Roger Federer in tears alongside his great rival Rafael Nadal after his last match at the Laver Cup on September 24, 2022 in London © Glyn KIRK / AFP/Archives

However, new players have established themselves as the heroes of the years to come.

The Polish Iga Swiatek, who became de facto N.1 after the departure of Barty, very quickly asserted herself as the new boss of the circuit, at 21, with eight titles won this year for a total of eleven.

She notably lined up between February and July a series of 37 victories and six titles in a row, including Roland-Garros, until her defeat in the third round at Wimbledon.

She then won her first US Open and ended the year with a 6,030 point lead in the WTA rankings over her runner-up Ons Jabeur.

That is more than double the total points of the Tunisian: at the end of the season, there is more gap between N.1 and N.2 than between N.2 and the last ranked player. .

On the men's circuit, a string of young and very young people animated the season.

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz during his quarter-final against Dane Holger Rune at the Paris Masters 1000 on November 4, 2022 © Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Daniil Medvedev became world No.1 on February 28, he was the first non-Big4 player (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray) to ascend the throne since Andy Roddick in February 2004.

Then Carlos Alcaraz won the US Open to become, at 19, the youngest world No.1 in history.

Djoko has the fangs

Also hatched in 2022 Jannik Sinner, Casper Ruud (finalist at Roland-Garros, the US Open, and at the Masters), Félix Auger-Aliassime, Holger Rune.

All are at least twelve years younger than Djokovic and their 2022 clashes, some of which are already titanic (see Sinner-Alcaraz at Wimbledon and the US Open), make your mouth water.

"It's good to see these young people taking over. They will be the next Federer, Nadal and Djokovic," enthused Jimmy Connors in a recent podcast.

But it seems too early to overlook the glorious oldies: in proportion of games played, Djokovic (86%) and Nadal (83%) are the players with the most wins in 2022.

Nadal, winner of his second Australian Open and his 14th Roland-Garros for the record 22 Grand Slam titles, still reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon where he forfeited.

And Djokovic, deprived of two Majors and four Masters 1000 for his refusal of the anti-covid vaccine, won five tournaments out of the eleven played, including Wimbledon and the Masters.

"When Novak played, he was the best," said Taylor Fritz after losing to the Serbian in the Masters semi-finals.

But the "Djoker", at 35, "trains as if he were 22", assured his coach Goran Ivanisevic after the Masters.

Serbian Novak Djokovic against Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final of the ATP Masters on November 20, 2022 in Turin © Marco BERTORELLO / AFP

Djokovic confirmed: "I still have a huge hunger for trophies".

And his feast could start in January, since he was allowed to play the Australian Open, which he was deprived of in 2022 after an incredible diplomatic-judicial soap opera due to his vaccination status.

He will try to win a tenth title in Melbourne and thus equal the record of 22 Majors.

© 2022 AFP