Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils are two of the most talented tennis players to have never won a Slam, at least in the last 10-15 years. In the latest episode of the Monfils Talk Show, they were both very honest about this statistic.
“We didn’t win a Slam simply because we weren’t good enough. We had the talent to go far but not to win them. It’s a sincere and honest answer, that’s how it happened,” Tsonga explained.
Monfils instead mentioned Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
“The Big 4 were better than us. They made you look bad. I remember against Nadal in Monte Carlo, for example, I played the best match of my life on clay and he beat me 6-0 in the third set,” he explained.
Talking about his future in an interview with the newspaper L’Èquipe, Monfils analyzed: “I hope to still be competitive, I’m doing everything I can. I don’t know when I’ll stop. There are many athletes who continue to compete at a high level even at 40 years old.”
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Jo-Wilfried retired in 2022 and said goodbye to tennis at the French Open, his home Major, while Gael will play his 21st season on the ATP Tour after turning professional in 2004. Tsonga ended his career by winning 18 tournaments and losing his only Slam final reached in 2008 at the Australian Open, surrendering to Novak Djokovic.
Monfils, for his part, has won 12 trophies in his cabinet, without triumphing in an ATP Masters 1000 or a Major. He stopped twice in the semifinals: in 2008 at Roland Garros and in 2016 at the US Open. Monfils will have at least one more year to try, but he should produce something unique.
Tennis World USA