(Marseille) At 36 and after four years plagued by injuries, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is considering retirement in his own way: “I still want to have a good time on the pitch and plan my outing,” he says. he told AFP before entering the running on Tuesday at the Marseille Open 13.

Now down to 243^and world rank, the former N.5 will face his friend from the French Davis Cup team Gilles Simon on Tuesday evening, for his sixth match of the season.

Eliminated at 2^and Challenger tower (2^and division) of Quimper, then at 2^and round of the ATP 250 in Montpellier by pushing the 36^and Filip Krajinovic in the tiebreaker of the 2^and set, and at 1^er round of the ATP 500 in Rotterdam, also losing the tiebreaker (9/7) against 11^and Hubert Hurkacz, Tsonga is in good physical shape but is not yet satisfied with his game.

“From my point of view, it’s not that yet, but I’m very happy because there has been an evolution and as the matches progress, I feel that the automatic mechanisms are getting back in place. Physically I am more and more liberated, I continue to progress, ”he analyzes.

No calculation

“I try to play as much as possible, I don’t calculate: if I have to go and play a Challenger to play matches, I go there because I know very well that there are only replaying matches and making the most of points and real match situations that I will continue to improve. Especially since in four years, I’ve played one year… and that’s not a lot”, he underlines.

After the Marseille tournament, of which he is the main shareholder, Tsonga is engaged in the Challenger de Pau. Then we’ll see.

His body has given him almost no respite in recent years: in addition to an underlying sickle cell disease (genetic disease affecting red blood cells and causing great fatigue), he suffered from knees, vertebrae, sacral joint iliac which calcified, obliging him to give up at 1^er round of the Australian Open in 2020. He only resumed the 2021 season at the end of February in Montpellier before ending it with a defeat at 1^er round at Wimbledon.

No pain, but restrictions

But today, “I have no more pain and it’s extraordinary,” says Tsonga.

“On the other hand, I have restrictions related to my injuries because you don’t come out unscathed from a double herniated disc, you don’t come out unscathed from an operation on each knee, you don’t come out unscathed from a joint which has frozen,” he underlines.

The resulting loss of mobility forces him to compensate and modify certain things in his game, which is what he needs to play matches for.

So what is his goal? The same that he had set for himself in 2019: “Return to a good level to regain pleasure and leave with your head held high”, he explains.

“I could very well have said to myself ‘I quit’ when I gave up in Australia in 2020. I could have said to myself ‘It’s okay, I’ve worked hard enough for a year to come back, I came back and I hurt again… The doctors don’t know how long I have it, it can last 6 months or 5 years”. I hesitated a lot, but I wanted to give myself a chance to stop with my head held high and playing tennis properly. It’s a challenge that I set myself: to stop, but at a time when I decided, at a time when I am able to play at a certain level, ”asserts Tsonga.

With his experience, he does not let himself be lulled into certainties about the realization of this project. But he still has a strong and guiding desire: “To have a good time in the field and plan my outing. »