French tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has admitted that his views on the game have changed as he ages. “In the beginning, for me playing tennis was also the possibility of life,” Tsonga told The Guardian.
“To be able to pay for a house, an apartment. To eat and do things, other activities. Now it’s completely different because I played for 15 years on tour and now I’m playing because I always want to do better.
I always want to prove to myself that I am capable of doing things on the court ”. Tsonga played just two games last season due to a back injury and began his 2021 campaign in late February.
“It was really difficult,” Tsonga admitted. “I did not play sports for eight months and of course I lost all my physical capacity so [fue un acierto] to go back and take a small step forward in my condition.
To feel a little better. Because at the beginning I couldn’t play even 20 minutes. I had to go through all this rehab, things that nobody likes. For me to win again was already a great challenge because you are trying to build something for 15 years and, in the end, for eight months without sport you kill everything ”.
Tsonga shows respect for the Big Three.
Tsonga has never won a Grand Slam, mainly because he was unable to beat Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on the bigger stage. “I think I was lucky enough to play with them.
It was an honor for me to play with them. In the end, they will be the best players ever. Four of them, because I consider Andy almost like them, “Tsonga said.” Of course it was not easy to play with them.
In all tournaments, I had to play one in one round, and another the next day, maybe another the next day, and maybe another in the final. It was difficult. I did it once in Toronto [en 2014]. When I won Toronto, I beat Andy, Novak and Roger in line. In the end I was completely sick, completely tired ”.
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