"My goal was to inspire kids" - Tsonga speaks on retirement

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired following his first-round loss against Casper Ruud at Roland Garros, completing a memorable 18-year-career in which he climbed as high as No. 5 in the ATP Rankings.

His enthusiasm for the game inspired many of his fellow athletes including many young players. The joy with which he played will forever be remembered by tennis fans. Speaking about his retirement, Tsonga said:

“I always said one of my goals was to inspire kids, inspire other people. I hope I did that during my career. I have been inspired myself by other sportsmen and I know how you feel. I know how you feel when you are a fan of somebody or you admire somebody. It’s a nice feeling.”

Asked about his unique personality, Tsonga admitted:

“For me it was really important to be different. I was born different a little bit. I’ve always been a little bit different than others in France. For me, it [counts] really positively and trying to do things differently was for me something positive. I always try to go this way.”

One of those who were inspired by Tsonga is compatriot Ugo Humbert who said:

“Jo for me was one of my idols, one of my favourite players. When I was young, he was a source of inspiration for me and I tried to do [things] like him. I went to the Federation at 12 and I knew that he was there, so for me it was exceptional. I was following all his matches.”

Tsonga won 467 tour-level matches — 45 against Top 10 opponents — but that was not always most important to him:

“I have some trophies I can’t even remember what happened on court and everything. But I’ll always remember who told me that I inspired them.”