Following two troubled years, Jeremy Chardy deserved to walk away from the sport in style. The Frenchman only managed to play five matches in 22 months and experienced major health issues including complications from COVID-19 jab and suffering a major knee injury. The 36-year-old hanged his racket forever at the lawns of All England Club at Wimbledon.
Chardy who dwells in England with his British partner and their son, played the last match of his 18-year-long career against blazing Carlos Alcaraz who eventually won The Championships by edging past Djokovic in a 5-set epic.
“I didn’t want to finish my career in hospital, so I practiced really hard to try to come back and finish on the court,” Chardy told Tennishead after his first-round defeat to the Spaniard.
“I practiced really hard and did a lot of rehab. I had a lot of difficult moments with my team and there wasn’t much to enjoy. But today I was happy to finish here on a big court. This country is my home.
“I’ve lived here for eight years, I’ve practiced a lot at Wimbledon and my family were here today to watch me.”
Chardy’s younger career saw a watershed moment 18 years ago when he bagged the Wimbledon boy’s title. Although he couldn’t reach to the potential unleashed by his other fellow countrymen from the golden generation headed by Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils, the shadowy Frenchman was consistent enough to sit in the ATP top 100 for 9 years. He reached the career-high ranks of #25 in 2013.
“I’m proud of my career,” Chardy said. “I think I got the maximum out of myself. I haven’t got any major regrets. I was consistent, I got to the second week of all four Grand Slams. I have great memories.”
Chardy thinks that having so many compatriot at the top of the game proved helpful in his decent career. “It helped me to progress, to improve,” he said. “I think it’s good to have a number of other good players from your country. You all push each other. It’s been a superb period for French tennis. These guys became good friends.
“There are some good young French players coming through now: Ugo Humbert, Arthur Fils, Luca van Assche. They can push each other. And it’s good for the next generation after them to see young French players doing well.”
Struggling with health issues following his Covid-19 vaccination in 2021, Chardy remained on the sidelines for no less than 16 months and finally returned to the tour in January 2023 but suffered a serious knee injury. He started coaching fellow countryman Ugo Humbert and has asserted that there is a slight possibility of him holding racket for some doubles but categorically confirmed calling a day on his singles career. After all, Chardy couldn’t have wished for a better farewell.
“The crowd were really nice with me today,” Chardy said after his 6-0 6-2 7-5 defeat to Alcaraz. “Even when I was playing really badly and was really nervous they were trying to help me and to push me. I think the Wimbledon crowd is one of the best. At the end I felt really happy, but then I turned my head and saw my son and my wife and started to cry.”
It was the first time, the French veteran faced the sparkling Spaniard. “He’s an amazing player,” Chardy said. “He takes the ball early and he can do everything really well. He can defend, he has good hands, he can play fast. It was nice to play against the world No 1.
“Now I understand why he is world No 1. I think he’s really good for tennis. He’s a nice player to watch and he’s a really nice guy off the court too,” said Chardy about Alcaraz.