Frenchman Nicolas Mahut indicated after his loss to Juan Martin Del Potro that he may have played his last singles match at Roland Garros.
Speaking after his four set defeat in the first round on Tuesday, Mahut agreed with a questioner who suggested that the final stages of the match may have been felt like a farewell tour.
“Towards the end, I wanted to savor the game a bit,” Mahut said. “It could be my last match here, and that’s why I wanted to really enjoy the last minutes.”
Mahut, 36, raced to a 6-1 lead against the Argentine but then fell flat and was dispatched in three straightforward sets. With his ranking down to No. 116 in the world, he needed a wild card just to reach the main draw, where he has not won a match since 2016.
The doubles specialist has struggled mightily in singles this year, winning no main draw tour matches since February. He has won just two matches on clay on the season.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” Mahut said. “The season is a long one. I can come back, but [my ranking] could fall.”
Mahut made clear that he intends to continue playing doubles for several years. He and fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hughes Herbert remain among the top doubles teams in the world, though they have fallen from their peak in 2015 and 2016. The No. 6 seed at Roland Garros, Herbert and Mahut are scheduled to begin doubles play on Wednesday.
“I’m not stopping my career now,” Mahut said. “It might be that I play back here [only] in doubles, and that’s not a problem for me.”
