Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 36 year-old Frenchman and former top-five player, has announced his retirement from professional tennis. His final tournament will be at the Parisian tournament Roland-Garros in May, setting him up for a warm sendoff from a home crowd.
Tsonga’s career has been a complicated one. He is immensely talented, boasting ample power and athleticism, but he was never the most tactically aware, so there is a sense he has underachieved a little bit. In 2011, Tsonga clashed with Roger Federer in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Federer had won Wimbledon six of the last eight years and reeled off the first two sets of the match. Federer had never lost after having a two-set lead at Wimbledon before — or at any major tournament, for that matter. The result of the match looked certain. However, Tsonga decided to catch fire, and stormed through a brilliant comeback, blasting shots past Federer almost at will. It felt shockingly easy as Tsonga won game after game, which is insane to say as he was playing one of the greatest players ever, but such is the skill of Tsonga at his peak.
For every peak, though, there was a valley. At the Australian Open two years later, Tsonga again played Federer in the quarterfinals. He was going toe-to-toe with the great man, winning the second set after losing the first. At a decisive moment in the third set, Tsonga decided to run into his backhand corner to hit a forehand. This was a calculated risk — the forehand is a more powerful shot, so if hit well, running a long way to set up the shot can be worth it. But by moving over to the sideline, the player leaves a massive gap on the other side of the court, so their shot has to be really good to make the risk worth it. It is like a less dramatic version of diving to stay in a point. You are leaving yourself on the ground, so if your diving shot does not win you the point, you are screwed. Tsonga ran all the way outside the sideline to hit a forehand, but he hit the ball softly and to the middle of the court, allowing Federer to easily direct his next shot into the open space. Tsonga was a full 15 feet away from the ball as it flew by him. Juan José Vallejo, a writer live blogging the match, wrote that Tsonga had hit the dumbest shot he had seen all tournament. Tsonga went on to lose the match. As a result, “Oh, Jo” became a common expression of woe in the tennis universe when Tsonga did something dumb on court.
After that loss to Federer, reporters asked Tsonga what he thought the difference was between him and the top four players. He had no idea, and said as much. “Maybe I’m less talented for the moment,” he suggested. This quote might sum up Tsonga’s biggest weakness as much as anything. Talent was never his problem. He played explosive, crowd-pleasing tennis, often blasting winners past his opponents or diving for desperate returns. He was fast, dynamic, with the capacity to become a human highlight reel. What he could have improved was his tactical awareness and focus, which he may not have understood sufficiently. Tsonga had a tendency to play with bizarre nonchalance in important parts of matches, and sadly, he does not get those moments back.
Tsonga certainly had the skill to win a major title, but he never did. His lone final came way back in 2008. Part of it was Tsonga’s less-than-ideal execution, sure, but he also had the misfortune of playing at the same time as Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who vacuumed up the big trophies at an alarming rate. They have 61 major titles between them, and Tsonga was unlucky enough to see the best years of his career coincide with theirs. Tsonga beat them all at various points — his combined record against the three of them is 16 wins and 39 losses — but could rarely do so in the biggest matches. At the French Open in 2012, Tsonga had his foot on Djokovic’s neck in the quarterfinals, but he failed to win a match point in four opportunities and went on to lose the match convincingly.
Tsonga started to get riddled with injuries as he entered his 30s. He has not been a factor at the top of the game in some time. There is no shame in the way he is going out — injuries and age are a fate that befall all athletes at some point. Still, there is a sense that he left some things undone. He has had an exceptional career as it is. He won 18 titles in an era when the three best male players ever were all competing.
Yet he could have left a bigger mark, and it is hard to imagine Tsonga himself feels differently. He was good enough to go toe-to-toe with anyone on his best days. He will be missed. Wondering what more Tsonga could have achieved is almost as easy as wishing him well.
