Tsonga sets sights on return to the top-10

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  • Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

    It’s New Year’s Eve and as many get ready to write their list of resolutions, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is not shying away from setting himself some high targets for 2017.

    A mixed 2016 saw Tsonga once again struggle with injuries that came at brutal timings, forcing him to retire from two of the four grand slams. He showed some positive signs of recovering his form towards the end of the year but ended the season ranked outside the top-10.

    So it comes as no surprise that Tsonga is hoping for consistency more than anything else in 2017.

    “To be honest, I have targets every year but every year it’s difficult to reach them,” Tsonga told reporters in Abu Dhabi Friday.

    “But anyway I set them high to go as far as possible. The target for me in the short-term is to be in the top-10 and be consistently in the top-10; to be able to play against those guys every week and have an opportunity to win against them and go for it in big tournaments.”

    Back in Abu Dhabi for his fourth Mubadala World Tennis Championship, the world No12 rebounded from his Thursday defeat to David Goffin by overcoming Tomas Berdych 6-7 (5), 6-3, 10-3 Friday.

    Berdych leads Tsonga 7-3 head-to-head on the professional tour but was unable to stop the Frenchman in the match tiebreak.

    Tsonga came to the UAE capital looking to fine-tune his game and test against it against the world’s best and he walks away from Zayed Sports City satisfied with his two matches.

    “For me today the most important thing was to be a little bit closer on the second serve which is difficult for me. And at the start I had the plan to return well, especially on the second ball, but in the second set I did it better. It was a lot better. When I return well then my game takes its sense and I’m a better player,” Tsonga said after defeating Berdych.

    “I’m pretty happy I turned the match today. The most important thing for me is to try to be consistent.”

    The 31-year-old could clash with Berdych again next week as they are both officially kicking off their 2017 seasons at the Qatar Open in Doha.

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