Tennis – Roland-Garros
Roland-Garros: Tsonga lets loose on Nadal
Published on May 4, 2024 at 6:35 a.m.
During the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Rafael Nadal began to regain his level. This bodes well for Roland-Garros, even if he did not hesitate to explain that if he did not feel physically ready, he would not play this tournament. At the twilight of his career, Nadal is less scary than before, as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga explained.
Rafael Nadal’s career is coming to an end but first, he has given himself the mission of playing in the last tournament of Roland-Garros of her career. It is still too early to say if he will have the possibility of winning this edition, which would be his fifteenth victory. But one thing is certain: the Mallorcan will give everything to participate.
Tsonga-Nadal: advantage for the Spaniard
In career, Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga faced each other 14 times. With a clear advantage for the Spaniard, who won 10 meetings. One of the Frenchman’s notable victories against the Majorcan was obviously that acquired in the semi-final of the Australian Open, in 2008. Roland-Garros on the other hand, they never clashed.
“Before the draw, we all prayed not to fall on him”
In comments made on the Canal + show Clique and relayed by We Love Tennis, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga told an anecdote about Rafael Nadal : “Everyone wants to see it. I want to see it. For a long time, I didn’t want to see him. We want him to come out in the best possible way, on the pitch fighting like he always did. What he did at Roland‐Garros, 14 victories… In fact, I don’t even want to talk about it because it’s so… Honestly, for me, the biggest challenge in tennis was to face Nadal on clay. It’s quite funny, I have a little anecdote about that. Before the draw, we all prayed not to fall on him. We said to ourselves: ‘Can you imagine, you enter the center court and finally, after two sets, you still haven’t scored a game.’ »