Former world number five Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has announced he will retire from tennis after this year’s French Open.
The 36-year-old has won 18 ATP singles titles and reached the 2008 Australian Open final, losing to Novak Djokovic.
The Frenchman said it “took me a long time to make this decision”.
“A few weeks ago I decided I was going to stop at Roland Garros this year,” Tsonga added in a video posted on social media.
“My body is telling me ‘you can’t go any further than what I give you’.”
Tsonga turned professional in 2004 and reached his only Grand Slam final four years later, losing in four sets to Djokovic in Melbourne as the Serb claimed the first of his 20 major titles.
The Frenchman made it to the semi-finals twice at both the French Open and Wimbledon and finished runner-up to Roger Federer at the ATP Finals in 2011.
Tsonga won Olympic silver in the men’s doubles alongside Michael Llodra at London 2012 and was part of France’s Davis Cup triumph in 2017.
He also clinched two Masters titles, in Paris in 2008 and Toronto in 2014, beating Federer in the final to win the latter.
However, he has struggled with injuries in recent years, which has seen him slip to 220th in the rankings.
Tsonga won just one match at tour level in 2021 and ended his season prematurely following a first-round loss to Mikael Ymer at Wimbledon.
“I decided that I had to stop at a moment that I chose, a moment when I was able to go on the court,” he said.
“I have always set myself high goals to try to get what I can. For me, this will be the opportunity to do it one last time.”
The French Open takes place between 22 May and 5 June.
