Paris (AFP)

A little tour in the depths of the ATP rankings, a passage through "second zone" tournaments and a return to the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000: at 34, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finds the joys of tennis at a very high level .

"For me, it's a positive week and I'm going back to my goals this year, starting from 300th place in the world and I'm going to be seeded now on the next Grand Slam" in Australia in January. congratulated the ex-N.5 world (February 2012) Friday, despite its elimination at the gates of the last square in Paris.

Operated from an injured knee in February 2018, he was unable to resume racing until September of the same year. Seven months of absence that made him plunge to ATP: November 5, 2018, he was 262nd worldwide and exactly one year later, he will make his return Monday in the World Top 30 (29th). All thanks to a nice course in Bercy where he beat successively Andrey Rublev (22), Matteo Berrettini (9th) and Jan-Lennard Struff (36th) before yielding not without panache against Rafael Nadal (2nd).

But to get there, he went back almost zero to find the simple taste of playing tennis.

In 2019, he was the finalist of the 2008 Australian Open and double winner in the Masters 1000 (Paris-2008 and Canada-2014), replayed three tournaments of the circuit Challenger (the 2nd division of professional tennis): he was eliminated in the quarterfinals in Bordeaux, won in Cassis and lost in half in Orleans.

- "Go back down" -

"It made me feel good to go down to 300th place, to play second-rate tournaments, and to get to know the big tournaments that were almost routine, but it's not normal to play in front of thousands of people. people and being pampered by the public! "explained Le Manceau.

"When you go into these challengers tournaments, the conditions are always more difficult, but there is combat, all the players want to move forward, they all dream of being great champions and even the public is different", has he underlined, considering that this atmosphere had allowed him to remember how he was doing an "exceptional job" and how close matches that ignite the public as he lived in Bercy are "a bargain, fun ".

In this Parisian hall where, before this year, he had reached his last quarter-final in the Masters 1000 in 2016, he is indeed at home, carried by the public who gives each of his meetings tunes finale.

Moreover, he recognizes that during this homecoming, what he really missed is this type of atmosphere.

- "Air holes" -

But as brilliant and satisfying as his career in Bercy, he does not consider that this tournament marks a turning point, he who won two in 2019 (ATP 250 Montpellier and Metz).

"When I look at my season, there are not 15 holes of air, I lost twice against Medvedev at the beginning of the year, I lost against Djokovic, against Nishikori, against Thiem ... Every time I lost other games, it was a very hot match where I did not have any bad luck either, "he said, recalling that the fact of not being seeded has complicated give it since "you do not have time to start that you already fall against the cadors".

"Playing Rafa (Nadal) in the first round is painful, playing it in quarters is normal!", He said before the meeting on Friday.

He also experienced a physical alert at the Monte-Carlo Masters 1000 in April, where he abandoned in the first round, put on his knees by sickle cell disease, a genetic disorder that affects hemoglobin and causes pain, anemia and increased risk of dementia. infections.

So, this chain of success in Paris against "big players", he was waiting for "because it's been several months since I feel that I play very well," he explained, recognizing still gaps in his physical than in his tennis.

And now, it is as a good father that he considers his career: "I know that I do not have 1000 years to play either, so I enjoy," he philosophizes.

© 2019 AFP