At that moment, I chose to go for the million," Tsonga honest about lucrative exhibitions
Asked on Kevin Ferreira's YouTube channel, Tsonga discussed the financial stakes of tennis matches, especially when the monetary offers are very tempting. To illustrate his point, he shared an anecdote from his Davis Cup days:
"Of course, we do it for the money, because sometimes there are offers you can’t refuse. I’m thinking of one time during the Davis Cup against Switzerland. My arm was hurting, I couldn’t play, everyone knew it, and they did everything to make me play. They gave me cortisone shots three times, even though normally, you don’t do things like that. They put my health at risk.
And then, at some point, I couldn’t even hold a glass to drink, so I said I couldn’t play. It was tough, I got some backlash, which is normal—it was important, people were disappointed. But after that, I got an offer to play 4-game sets in an exhibition for $1 million for a week, 5 matches. Except in the Davis Cup, I didn’t play, so I knew I’d get torn apart.
Do I go for the money that will allow me to invest in myself, my career, or do I not do it because people won’t be happy or the press will surely come after me? At that moment, I chose to go for the money, the million.
