France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga discusses the subdued reception he received from the Parisian crowd during his loss to David Ferrer in the 2013 Roland Garros semifinals.
“It affected me because I saw that the people weren’t supporting me a lot because when I came on the court the stadium was half empty,” Tsonga told Sport360. “Because there was a long match before me [Rafael Nadal’s five-set win over Novak Djokovic] and they all went out to do other things. It was half empty in my own country. But I didn’t lose because of this. I lost that match because I think David played well.”
The 28-year-old Frenchman still believes he can win a major. The world No. 10 has only reached one Grand Slam final—at the 2008 Australian Open, where he fell to Novak Djokovic—and has only won a single Masters tournament, the 2008 Paris Indoors.
“If I think I’m not able to achieve it I will stop,” he said. “I’m not that kind of guy who will play just for playing and be on the tour. I don’t care. I have family, I make a lot of sacrifices to play tennis, even if it’s my passion, so I’m doing it just because I really believe that I can do something great.
“I’m not doing it for recognition from people. I’m doing it for me. Because when I was young I had a dream to win a Grand Slam and whatever people think, I just try to do everything in a good way and I hope it will happen.”