"The best way to respect people is to give everything against them" - Tsonga on respect for his opponents

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be hanging up his racket following the 2022 Roland Garros event, but the Frenchman would like people to know that he left it all on the court whenever he played.

In a career that spanned 18 years, the 37-year old has won 18 singles titles on the ATP circuit, including two Masters 1000 trophies. Furthermore, he has reached a career-high ranking of World No.5, and advanced to at least the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slams.

With his career coming to a close, the Le Mans native appeared in a recent podcast and spoke on how much respect means to him and the game he loves.

"I always try to respect every opponent," said the Frenchman. "Because me, before to be Top 10 and to be a good player. I was 300 in the world, 200 in the world, and I think I deserved at this time, some respect.”

Tsonga would go on to elaborate on how he showed respect to his opponent, stating that he gave his all regardless of the ranking of the person on the other side of the net.

"For me, the best way to respect people is to give everything against them," he added. "No matter the name, No matter the place. For me it was something important.”

Now ranked at World No.267, Tsonga will kick off his final French Open campaign against the eighth-seeded Casper Ruud.