Former seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe joked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could easily have won a Grand Slam if Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic hadn’t been so selfish.
Tsonga, 37, ended his career in front of his home fans at the French Open this week. Tsonga, who turned professional in 2004, was one of the most promising players of his generation, but he never achieved his goal of winning a Grand Slam.
In 2008, Tsonga reached his first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open before losing to Djokovic. After Tsonga reached the Australian Open final in 2008, many predicted he would reach many more Grand Slams finals.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, but Tsonga had several strong runs in the years that followed. Tsonga reached another Australian Open semifinal in 2010 while also being a two-time semifinalist at the French Open and Wimbledon.
At the US Open, Tsonga reached the quarterfinals three times.
McEnroe: Tsonga was unlucky to play in the Big 3 era
“The three other boys [Federer, Nadal, Djokovic]that was the theme for everyone,” McEnroe told Eurosport.
“Whether it [Gael] Monfils, who was next to him at the post-match ceremony, you can go down the list of players who could and would have won Slams, but these three were the greatest of all time.
They’re incredible tennis players and they keep these guys on their toes too. They are three of the greatest athletes of all time and Jo was a little below and that cost him against them. Sure, with a bit of luck he could have won one, as could Monfils and some other guys, but these guys are very selfish and stingy!” Tsonga finished his career with 18 titles and his best ranking of his career was world No. 5.
Many wondered if Tsonga’s career would have taken a very different path if he had won his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open at just 22 years old.
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