Last July, Laurent Lokoli announced on his social networks that he would retire at the end of the next edition of Roland-Garros. The Corsican will therefore live his last months in the shoes of a professional tennis player with an ultimate goal in the back of his mind.
It’s a career spanning more than ten years which is about to end next summer. Last July, following his defeat at the Ajaccio Open, Laurent Lokoli announced on his social networks that he intended to retire from professional tennis after the 2026 edition of Roland-Garros. In a touching message, the Corsican wanted to thank all the people he had worked with throughout his career.
Present on the professional circuit since 2014, it was a promising career that offered itself to Laurent Lokoli, but repeated injuries will not have made the task easier for the man who was once Novak Djokovic’s sparring partner. A good start, with a participation in his first Grand Slam tournament, at Roland-Garros 2014, for a defeat in the first round against the American Steve Johnson. The following year he lost in the first round of the Australian Open, before being slowed down again by injuries. In total, Laurent Lokoli will have taken part in two first rounds of the Australian Open (2015, 2023), two first rounds at Roland-Garros (2014, 2017) and a first round on the grass of Wimbledon (2023). A flattering Grand Slam record for the Corsican who keeps in a corner the hope of participating in a very last one in his career.
Lokoli, the Roland-Garros diet
This Friday, it was on his social networks that Laurent Lokoli gave his fans his news. On his YouTube channel where he has nearly 3,000 subscribers, or on his X account (formerly Twitter), he returned to his life journey, closely linked to tennis, believing that this sport had “learned everything. Patience. Loneliness. Hope. The falls. The successes. He took me far, sometimes very high, sometimes very low. But he never left me.”
A great statement for sport, before discussing the future and the prospects for the coming year 2026: “Today, this journey may be reaching a turning point. In May, I will have a chance, perhaps the last, to reach the cut for Roland-Garros. (…) This challenge seems crazy because I am currently 480 ATP and I will have to be 230 ATP at the end of April to participate, but madness is part of me and whatever happens I will have no regrets.”
A crazy challenge for the Corsican who will do everything to achieve it by putting his preparation to good use. In his publication, Laurent Lokoli explains that he is going to leave for five weeks on an Asian tour combining three weeks in Thailand and two in Viet Nam, with several challenger tournaments on the program. A journey in Asia which will also be found on the player’s channel who will publish a video of this journey every three days. Before concluding: “The objective is clear, Roland-Garros 2026. Perhaps the last chapter. Maybe not. But one thing is certain: this journey deserves to be lived to the end.”
