He was in the middle of his match but could no longer hold in his emotions, marking an unforgettable scene. 9WWOS
When play resumed, Tsonga could barely even serve, tapping the ball at barely more than 100km/h — less than half as fast as the booming offerings he was known for — and even tried hitting one shot left-handed as the tiebreaker ended in a shutout. No matter. The locals gave Tsonga a prolonged standing ovation, and he went up near the net, knelt and rested his forehead on the ground, creating a splotch of the rust-coloured clay on his face.
Tsonga leaves with 121 wins in grand slam matches, a record for a French man. It is a tough time for tennis in the land of Roland-Garros: For the first time since 1980, there were zero men or women from the country seeded in the tournament. There were video tributes from the greatest four male players of this era — Novak Djokovic , Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray — and a series of speeches.
No.3 seed Paola Badosa, whose 6-2, 6-0 victory over France's Fiona Ferro followed Tsonga vs. Ruud in Chatrier, said she got “super emotional” watching the whole scene. Later, she ran into Tsonga as they were doing interviews and told him kiddingly she was upset that all the hullabaloo over him delayed the start of her match — then asked him to pose with her for a photo.
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