Tsonga took the first set before the Norwegian prevailed 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-2, 7-6(0).

The crowd at the Court Philippe Chatrier including close friend Gael Monfils gave the 37-year-old a deserved standing ovation as the Frenchman’s career which includes 18 Association of Tennis Professionals Tour titles, ended.

"I always said one of my goals was to inspire kids, inspire other people,” Tsonga told ATPTour.com after the game.

"I hope I did that during my career.

"I have been inspired myself by other sportsmen and I know how you feel.

"I know how you feel when you are a fan of somebody or you admire somebody. It’s a nice feeling.”

"For me it was really important to be different.

"I was born different a little bit.

"I’ve always been a little bit different than others in France.

"For me, it [counts] really positively and trying to do things differently was for me something positive.

"I always try to go this way."

The most-entertaining men’s singles match today featured Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas against Lorenzo Musetti of Italy.

Tsitsipas went two sets down before clawing back to beat Musetti 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev got his first clay court victory of 2022 by beating Facundo Bagnis of Argentina 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Medvedev is up against Laslo Djere in the second round after the Serbian won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 against Ricardas Berankis of Lithiania.

Holger Rune of Denmark continued his stellar 2022 season by upsetting 14^th seed Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(4) for his maiden Grand Slam win.

Andrey Rublev of Russia, who exited the tournament in the first round last year, fought back from a set down to get the better of Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.