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ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2016

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Paris, France

E. GULBIS/J. Tsonga

2-5, [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Sorry about your injury. Can you just tell us what the problem is and when you first felt it?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: The problem is my adductor, the same thing I had before the tournament. I just came on court pretty good, and feeling really good. The first game of the match I do to slide, and on one of them I just felt a pain.

Then I continued a little bit, and it was coming more and more painful, and I didn't know where exactly I felt the same pain. I knew it was -- I knew it was over, because no chance I can play all match long like this and no chance, you know, I can defend on the next round.

So I just decide to stop, and that's it.

Q. How hard is it to stop a match, even though it's early, when you're winning and everything is going your way?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: You know, it's really difficult, but in the past, few times in the past I played on this pain, tried to win, but it was always something wrong. Because after that I was worse, and I was out for a long time.

So I think for me it was the right decision to stop right now, and that's it.

Q. You were clearly very distressed as you left the court. Was that pain or disappointment or both?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: For me, it's of course a big disappointment. You know, I felt really well on the court. I was in a really good shape today.

For me, it's just really difficult to accept that I'm not anymore in the tournament. I mean, that's part of the game, and I have to accept it.

Q. What's the prognosis now for you? How soon do you think you can be back competing?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I have no idea. First I have to do some exam. What is difficult on this kind of injury, you have to do the exam maybe two or three days after to see exactly what is it, because when you do it straightaway, you can have a wrong picture of it.

So I will wait two, three days and do the picture and see how it goes. But to be honest, I have no idea if it's really important or if it's -- I will not say important or not. I would say more if it's two weeks or six or eight.

Q. With the injuries that you have had and also being over 30 now, do you have a greater sense that time is not infinite? That there are only so many chances, so many Roland Garros that you may play?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Sorry? It's my English.

Q. Not at all. Not at all. Now that you're over 30, do you have a greater understanding that there won't be millions more times you can return here?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, of course I know that every time I left here in Roland Garros is an opportunity goes away. But, yeah, and I don't know how many times I will play.

But, you know, it's part of my life, you know, to have happy days and to have, you know, bad days. Today happens bad days, and I will try to recover and build some new good days.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Do you know exactly what your injury is?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I don't exactly know the nature, the exact nature of this injury, because I don't know how long -- or rather, I don't know how serious the injury is. I know what this injury is. I know that I pulled fibers on my adductors. I don't know how much or how far I've gone on these muscles, if it's just a pulled muscle or if it's torn. I have no idea, as we speak. I'll know that in two, three days when I've done the exams, the tests.

Q. Do you think that maybe this is due to the fact that you were back again too quickly, that is, you wanted to be present here in Paris to play this tournament? Don't you think maybe you decided to come back too early, it was a bit of a rush?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yes, of course. Well, there are so many factors, you see. When I arrived here, these were not the best conditions for me, because I had still this injury. I had an injury two weeks before Roland Garros. It was really too soon. But, you know, I play tennis because I want to play the French Open. I was about to say nowhere else but Paris.

So to me I couldn't have thought, no, I'll throw the towel before Roland Garros. I tried it. And then there are parameters that you can't control, like Baghdatis with 43 dropshots, and I would play five sets against him.

These are the things you can't control, and these are factors that piled up and weighed on the scales. And today, well, it's a pity. Apart from this little concern, everything was really fine.

Q. Well, as you were saying, in English, could you perhaps explain what happened? I think it arrived very early when you decided to slide.
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Well, it was the very first points. I don't know if it was 2-3 or 4. He was playing on the sidelines. I was sliding. I felt a very strong pain in my adductor. I thought, okay, maybe this is just a warning sign.

But then after a few rallies or points, I felt that my thigh was getting harder and harder. I thought this is going to be very complicated. And when it was 4-2, I made an effort on the right side and again I felt like being stabbed by a knife. And I realized at that moment that I had like almost zero chances of finishing the match.

Q. Unfortunately it's not the first time you have had an injury during the Grand Slam tournament. But, you know, you were crying at the end, so you really seemed to be affected by this. Is it the injury or because you had to pull out?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Well, you know, you do your best to be ready for that day. You make so many efforts during the whole year. To me, the French Open, as I said before, is one of the principal reasons why I fight day in, day out, the reason why I want to be on the courts.

So when you're there, you play with your heart, so I have no filter. As I say, the emotions just flow out of me, and today I'm very disappointed and very sad, because I did everything I could to try and go as deep as possible in the tournament.

And then I'll have to react quite quickly, because there are things that are much more serious than what I've lived and experienced today. So I'm sad, but I hope I'll be able to recover quickly and come back quickly.

Today we have had very bad news at the Parc Monceau in Paris, and this means that everything is relative, and it's disappointing. It's sad, but it's not the most important thing, is it?

Now, these central things for me are my friends, my family, and I will overcome the whole thing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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