On Sunday afternoon on the French riviera, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face the international media for the first time since announcing that he will say goodbye to all the glitz and glamour of the tennis circuit.
The prelude to the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters will be another moment in the incarnation of what has been increasingly obvious to Tsonga's legion of fans and admirers who have tracked his feats between the lines for the best part of two decades.
The effervescent force of nature that was Jo-Wilfried Evrard Tsonga had departed long ago.
His desire to return to what he considered an acceptable level despite the panoply of injuries has been a brave rage to defy the evidence.
Tsonga revealed his decision to move to the next stage of his life during a cosy chat with the French sports newspaper newspaper L'Equipe.
During the conversation - his wife Noura El Shwekh at his side - 36-year-old Tsonga conceded that his body was no longer responding to his will. A dissonance harsher for top level athletes.
"It's been several years where every day there is at least one moment when I think: 'Why am I doing this? Why am I hurting myself like this?'"
Tsonga, who will be 37 on 14 April, will not have to pose the question for too much longer.
A first round match in Monte Carlo on Monday against Marin Cilic and then just a bit more pain to bear for the big love-in at the French Open - the place he calls home.
Prestige
Without good reason really since a certain Rafael Nadal has essentially annexed the site with his 13 singles titles.
Still, few would begrudge Tsonga such a weepy Weltanschauung. And, as he stands at 1 metre 88 and weighs in at 91 kg, very few would actually argue to the contrary.
That imposing frame has been able to batter the cream of the circuit.
He has hoisted 18 singles crowns since turning professional in 2004 making him the second most successful French male player since tennis became open to professionals in 1969.
The two most prestigious trophies came at the Paris Masters in 2008 and at the Rogers Cup in Canada in 2014.
Along the away there were notable wins over all of the big guns such as Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Thick of the action
But unlike that troika, Tsonga was never able to harness his talent over seven matches in two weeks to win a Grand Slam tournament. The closest he came was in 2008 when he contested the Australian Open final against Djokovic.
The Serb, who will be at the Monte Carlo Masters too, won in four sets to launch his Grand Slam counter - currently running at 20.
Tsonga never achieved such heights again. He lost in the semis at the French Open in 2013 and 2015. There was also a semi at Wimbledon in 2011.
Those were the days. In the thick of the action at the business end of competitions.
And so nearly five years after playing in the France squad which beat Belgium to take the Davis Cup, it's wild cards - invitations into the main draw. The 2014 Monte Carlo Masters champion Stan Wawrinka - also recovering from injuries -will get one too.
Tsonga will need a wildcard from the French Tennis Federation for the French Open if he is to fulfil his wish to finish at Roland Garros.
That request should be satisfied within the next few days. It would be deemed a scandal to deny the plea.
Tsonga will consequently leave the party with the bragging rites - the most successful player of a talented generation that included Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils - imaginatively dubbed the "quatre mousquetaires" in homage to the Alexandre Dumas novel.
Simon - already 37 - tweeted endearingly that he'd be soon joining his old pal for a chinwag about their days of derring-do on the tour.
J’arrive copain : )
— Gilles SIMON (@GillesSimon84) April 7, 2022
But for all their swash, the four consistently buckled in the big tournaments. Simon questioned the modus operandi of the French training system in a thoughtful book published in 2020.
And though 35-year-old Monfils still strides around the top 20, of his 11 tournament wins, none have been at a Masters 1000 competition.
Tsonga's decision to quit will throw the spotlight on the current crop of French twenty-somethings.
The view's not pretty. Ugo Humbert at the age of 23 is the highest ranked at 47 in the world. Eleven places further down the food chain lies Arthur Rinderknech. Like Benjamin Bonzi at 61, he's in his mid twenties.
Hugo Gaston - ranked 68 - at least has a bit more time on his side. The 21-year-old reached the last 16 at the French Open in 2021 and made the quarter-finals at the Paris Masters last November.
None of the four though appear to be world beaters and their chances seem to be ever decreasing with 20-year-old Jannik Sinner and 18-year-old Carlos Alcarez rising fast and on the fringes of the top 10.
Tsonga - as he faces reporters' probes and prodding - can bewail his misfortune with injuries. But he can also can acknowledge a tennis life well lived.
He will depart with 20 odd million euros from earnings and a few million more from sponsorship deals and publicity shots.
A couple of children and projects such as the Allin Academy should also keep him busy.
After the inevitable defeat at the French Open in May, the FFT will undoubtedly rustle up an on-court video montage of Tsonga at his best.
There'll be tears and tributes. There'll be smiles and applause. Total Jo love. And why not?
Tsonga kept French tennis on the map.
