Ruud Ends Tsonga’s Career At French Open, Tsitsipas Survives; Nadal, Djokovic Wed.

The storied career of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came to an end Tuesday at the French Open, but not without a fight.

The 37-year-old Tsonga was matched up with one of the best clay courters in the world in Casper Ruud, and the Frenchman thrilled the crowd taking the first set.

The nervous Norwegian settled down and took control but Tsonga got a break in the fourth. His bid to serve it out and force a fifth failed, then after a lengthy medical timeout for his shoulder, it was all Ruud coming through 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-2, 7-6(0) on Tsonga was in tears serving the final point.

“For me, to have been able to fight back against a solid player for my final match is what I was expecting at the end of the day,” said Tsonga. “That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to finish this way, on the court, to do my best, injured or not.

“I thought, I’m going to stay on the court and finish off this match,” Tsonga said. “That’s how I wanted to finish, on the court, give my best tennis. I think this is what I did.

“In any case, there would have been no second match, because I left everything on the court today.”

Gilles Simon will retire at the end of the season but his French Open career nearly came to end. Pablo Carreno Busta fought back from two sets down then led by a break in the fifth before Simon put the end of the French Open career on hold with a 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 6-4 in a match that ended just past 1am.

“It was a crazy match, an unexpected win,” Simon said. “When you’re on clay, it’s super long, and Pablo is a super solid player. You know until the end it’s going to be difficult, and unfortunately I was dropping a bit physically.

“In the end I managed to turn this one and it was really unexpected.”

The evening saw another 5-setter as Stefanos Tsitsipas came from two sets down to deny Lorenzo Musetti 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Musetti blew a two set lead last year to Novak Djokovic, and in his second appearance on Chatrier it happened again.

“Things don’t come easy. I refuse to give up. That’s simply how it works with me,” Tsitsipas said. “You never really think about getting back after being two sets to love. You just play it point after point. You just wish that your efforts will pay off on a longer scale, longer run.

“Being in that situation… it’s a mountain that you have to climb, and I was able to climb it and regain the momentum steadily, but consistently.”

Denis Shapovalov, who had high hopes for Paris after his Rafael Nadal win in Rome, fell to Holger Rune in straight sets 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(4).

Daniil Medvedev opened with an easy win and Jannik Sinner, Richard Gasquet, Sebastian Korda and Andrey Rublev also advanced.

Tomorrow, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic return. Nadal will take on Corentin Moutet while Djokovic faces Alex Molcan.

Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz are also in action.

WEDNESDAY FRENCH OPEN SCHEDULE
Court Philippe CHATRIER – Début à 12h00
1 SD 2 Angelique KERBER (GER)[21] contre Elsa JACQUEMOT (FRA)
2 SM 2 Alexander ZVEREV (GER)[3] contre Sebastian BAEZ (ARG)
3 SD 2 Belinda BENCIC (SUI)[14] contre Bianca ANDREESCU (CAN)
Pas avant 20h45
4 SM 2 Corentin MOUTET (FRA) contre Rafael NADAL (ESP)[5]

Court Suzanne LENGLEN – Début à 11h00
1 SD 2 Aliaksandra SASNOVICH (—) contre Emma RADUCANU (GBR)[12]
2 SD 2 Karolina MUCHOVA (CZE) contre Maria SAKKARI (GRE)[4]
3 SM 2 Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB)[1] contre Alex MOLCAN (SVK)
4 SM 2 Sebastian KORDA (USA)[27] contre Richard GASQUET (FRA)

Court Simonne MATHIEU – Début à 11h00
1 SM 2 John ISNER (USA)[23] contre Gregoire BARRERE (FRA)
2 SD 2 Coco GAUFF (USA)[18] contre Alison VAN UYTVANCK (BEL)
3 SM 2 Albert RAMOS-VINOLAS (ESP) contre Carlos ALCARAZ (ESP)[6]
4 SD 2 Camila OSORIO (COL) contre Diane PARRY (FRA)