The French star says that dropping down to the ATP challenger circuit helped him find his game and his love for the sport.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had an incredible comeback season in 2019. The Frenchman powered back into the Top 30 after finishing an injury-marred 2018 (thanks to knee surgery in April of that year) at 239  in the world. He won titles in Metz and Montpellier an earned over thirty victories at the ATP level, but Tsonga told reporters that some of the most important victories and moments were earned on the Challenger Tour.

The Frenchman played three ATP Challenger events in Bordeaux, Cassis and Orleans France and says that the experience helped him reconnect with his true passion for the sport.

“The reason why I went there, as I said, was to have matches under my belt, but it was also many other things,” Tsonga said after his last match at the Paris Masters. “Playing in challenger tournaments, how shall I put it? It helped me find the reasons why I was playing tennis again. Conditions are always more difficult. There's always a battle. You meet with players who are dreaming of being great champions. And even the crowd who is attending is a different crowd.”

Tsonga reached the quarterfinals on clay in Bordeaux this spring, and in the fall he won the title at Cassis after the US Open and reached the semifinals at Orleans. Those events were perhaps more important than the titles to Tsonga. He says playing those lower-level events helped him get a fresh sense of perspective.

“It's always pleasant to play such tournaments, because then we realize that what we do is exceptional,” he said. “We get closer to the public when we play challengers, and we listen to what people say and it makes you feel good. It helps you have a different view of your career, of tennis at large, and to find pleasure again in playing tennis. There's no pressure anymore. One should not forget that it's not given to everyone to play tennis like this.”

US Open champion reveals what he finds beautiful about the game.
Paris has presented peaks and pitfalls in Rafael Nadal's glorious career.

The 12-time Roland Garros champion has ruled the red clay in Paris, but has not contested the Rolex Paris Masters final since he fell to David Nalbandian in the 2007 championship match.

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The City of Light illuminates what Nadal finds "beautiful" about the game.

The 33-year-old Spaniard says the adjustment tennis demands—including altering his game from the red clay of Roland Garros to the lower, faster bounce of Bercy's hard court—is one of the beautiful challenges the sport poses.

"You can't play a clay court game here if you want to have success here and you cannot play an indoor way on clay if you want to have success on clay," Nadal told the media after sweeping Stan Wawrinka to reach the quarterfinals. "And that's the beautiful thing about this sport, have the capacity to adapt yourself to the different conditions."

Traditionally, indoor hard courts have been the most demanding surface for Nadal to conquer. 

Nadal, who will regain the world No. 1 ranking on Monday regardless of Rolex Paris Masters results this week, owns a .681 career winning percentage with two titles indoors compared to an .848 career winning percent with 82 titles outdoors. 

Photo credit: Christopher Levy

The 19-time Grand Slam champion is bidding to win Paris and the ATP Finals in London for the first time. He knows he cannot afford to play the waiting game to achieve that ambitious aim.

"For me personally, of course, here I need to adjust a couple of things in the way that I serving, the way that I preparing the points, that there is not much time to hit one ball here, one ball to the other side, and then wait for the right opportunity," Nadal said. "Here, you can't wait much, and I'm trying to play with the surface, not against the surface."

Photo credit: Christopher Levy