‘The Last Dance’ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retires in front of home crowd with a defeat to Casper Ruud in the French Open 2022


‘The Last Dance’ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retires in front of home crowd with a defeat to Casper Ruud in the French Open 2022

Jo-Wilfreid Tsonga

The Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has had a long and prominent career, including being one of the only three players (the others being Tomáš Berdych and Stan Wawrinka) to have major wins against each of the Big Four. He was a former world number five and has appeared in the semifinals two times in the French Open and the Wimbledon. He had also reached the quarterfinals of the US Open multiple times and a final appearance at the Australian Open. The French Open 2022 was declared by Tsonga as his final tournament, and he was there to appease the crowd and vice-versa.

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The crowd at the Phillipe-Chatrier was there to pump Tsonga so that he may pull off an unlikely heroic in his final tournament against the world number 8, Casper Ruud. They were hoping that Tsonga would make one last stand at the Roland-Garros, and to his credit, Tsonga stood tall. He took the first set from Ruud, and with the crowd support and some error from Casper Ruud, it looked like there could be an upset brewing.

But, the Norwegian held his nerves amidst the crowd chanting Tsonga’s name to seal the match in four sets. Ruud won the match 6-7(6-8), 7-6(7-4), 6-2, 7-6(7-0). It was not an ideal exit for the Frenchman, but Casper Ruud had a match to win, and so Tsonga had to suffer his final loss at the Phillipe-Chatrier.

Jo Tsonga was one of the best players from France. He got the fitting farewell he served from the French crowd, the felicitations from his opponent on a fine career, and a tribute from his contemporaries and the world number 1’s in his career.

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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga puts his racquet down.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo Wilfried Tsonga in pain on the Phillipe-Chatrier

After a successful title defense in Geneva, Ruud had come into the French Open 2022. He had also made it to the semifinals of the Italian Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. Ruud is in a stellar form, but something was lacking from his game today. It could have been the result of his match being the last match of a legend. Ruud faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a former world number 5. Tsonga had already declared that this would be his last tournament, and he gave Ruud a nice run for his money, but the age had finally caught up to Tsonga, as he appeared in pain in the fourth set.

Tsonga would have liked to go out with some wins in his final tournament, but it was always a herculean task with four consecutive first-round losses before the French Open 2022. But, with the match against an in-form Casper Ruud, Tsonga came out knowing he would most likely lose, and he did lose, but not without the fight he is known for. Tsonga pushed Ruud to three tiebreaks and also stole the first set.

With this match, a legend retired from the game, and he took all the good wishes from the fans and players alike on his further journey. The Phillipe-Chatrier was in tears in the farewell of this great player.

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