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ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

October 31, 2019

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Paris, France

J. TSONGA/J. Struff

2-6, 6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. What a battle. What an epic battle.
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yes, it was a very tight match. It could have been the opposite scenario, it was only a few points in a row. I'm very satisfied with my match. He played very well.

I was solid enough to reverse the trend. I'm very happy, and now I will be get prepared for tomorrow.

Q. What has happened in your mind after half an hour, where he misses nothing? How do you manage to change the match?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: The trap in which one could fall is to do other things and to take more risks and make more mistakes and to find oneself in danger. I know that we can play in tennis like this, but for an hour and a half it's very harsh because we have to have a lot of impetus. Very few players can play like this for an hour and a half, for two hours.

The only thing I could do was to focus on what I had to do, to try to remain focused on the match so as to wear him down in the end at one point and try to impose my game play.

Q. Even if you won in Montpellier at the beginning of the year, you have had other wins. Don't you consider that this tournament is the symbol of you coming back on the tour actually? You're going to be part of the top 30. There's a before and after Paris Masters, isn't there?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Not really, because I was expecting this moment. I knew that I was about to get into a winning streak. For some time now I've been playing well. I just needed to be a bit fitter, a bit of everything. But I knew that things were turning around the way I wanted.

The fact that I'm not a seeded player doesn't make things easy. Because as soon as you start, as an opener, you have great players. Everything goes very fast.

When I look back on my season, I lost twice against Medvedev at the beginning of the year. I lost against Djokovic, against Nishikori. I lost against Thiem. These are outstanding players. When I lost other matches, they were very tight matches, and I proved myself worthy every time.

I think this is the logical continuation of my season, and I hope that I will remain fit so as to improve myself, and to be more and more solid.

Q. Indoors you're one of the players with the largest number of wins. Do you feel that your forehand is more efficient in indoors? Do you adjust your game when you're in indoors? Do you make adjustments like this?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Not really. It's true that this surface suits my game. It relies upon the serve. I rely on lot on my serve. There's no sun, there's no wind, so that's quite pleasant for me. I can be consistent. Outside, when I'm outdoors, it's more complex.

I've had good results outdoors as well, but it's true that the indoors tour suits my game, especially now that I have changed my equipment two, three years ago, and this equipment is more suitable for indoors circuit.

Q. So let's say that you will face Nadal in quarterfinals. Since spring 2018 you're looking forward to it, aren't you?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: These matches make you improve. When you play the best, it's always beneficial and it's not important whether you win or lose. When you play Rafa in the first round, it's a problem. If you play Rafa in the quarterfinals, it's normal. That's part and parcel of the unrolling of a tournament.

Of course it's better for me to meet Rafa in quarterfinals after having played a few matches rather than during the first round.

Q. You've gone to three challengers in France: Cassis, Bordeaux, Orleans. How do these help you aside from having matches under your belt? Did it bring you something special? Why did you go there?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: The reason why I went there, as I said, was to have matches under my belt, but it was also many other things. 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.

It's always pleasant to play such tournaments, because then we realize that what we do is exceptional. 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.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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