Tsonga, Del Potro and Dzumhur snag important titles

On Sunday, three champions won tournaments in Europe for important personal milestones. What did it mean for each of them, and how will it help their careers in the near future? ?

1

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

The Frenchman has had a wild year with several disappointing first and second-round exits, along with a slew of tournament titles. In Antwerp on Sunday, he won his fourth title of 2017— a career record for the 32-year-old. The last time he won more than two tournaments in a season was 2009 (three).

Tsonga, ranked No. 15, has an outside chance of getting to the ATP Finals in London, but he needs great runs in Vienna and Paris.

2

Juan Martin del Potro

After dealing with injury setbacks for much of the first half of the season, Del Potro won his first title of 2017 by taking out an in-form Grigor Dimitrov. It’s the second straight year that the Argentine has won Stockholm and marks the 20th title of his career.

Best of all, Del Potro gained important ground for a shot at joining the field in London. The 29-year-old needs deep runs in Basel and Paris to close the 440-point gap behind Pablo Carreno Busta. Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey are also ahead of Del Potro.

3

Damir Dzumhur

Who is Dzumhur? Well, for starters, he’s the first player ever to win St. Petersburg and Moscow in the same year. The Bosnian escaped with four three-set matches last week and leaves as the king of Russian tennis.

For his strong fall runs, the 25-year-old has reached a career-high of No. 31. He’s got a good chance at being seeded at the Australian Open—not bad for a player that was ranked No. 94 in June.