This is one of the highlights of the fortnight at Roland-Garros. A few weeks after announcing that he would retire from sports at Roland-Garros in front of his public, Jo Wilfried Tsonga kept his word and after a close match against Casper Ruud, he said goodbye to the world of tennis. A moving ceremony in the presence of his friends, Gaël Monfils, Richard Gasquet or Benoît Paire. His relatives were also there since his wife Noura El Shwekh was by his side, as was his son Sugar (5 years old) and her youngest, Leelow, born in July 2021.
A moving ceremony which was followed by a small media tour to explain his choice and discuss his long and beautiful tennis career. Yesterday, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was on the set ofAs an aside, the Canal+ program. When journalist Nathalie Levy talks about her family, and in particular her first child Sugar and the difficulty of juggling work and family life. “When my first one arrived, it was brand new. We are not supermen. As athletic as we are, we are normal people. I had my little one who was waking up a lot, it was more difficult, it was hard to leave”evokes the 37-year-old champion.
Sugar in the incomprehension facing this often absent father
Repeated absences that will end up questioning the young boy, as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga tells his interlocutor. “Lately I had my son who said to me: ‘But dad, why are you going to play on fields that are far away? While there is one right next to the house'”recalls the young retiree, who evokes a real “heartbreaking” when he had to leave the family cocoon.
A complicated situation which certainly helped Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to make the decision to end his career. “Obviously, I don’t blame them (his wife and children) for having played a little less well lately, it’s part of life”would like to remind the Manceau all the same.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has decided to retire and he will now be able to devote himself entirely to his family, to the delight of his son Sugar!