Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is happy to be spending his New Year’s eve on the court in Abu Dhabi rather than at a party somewhere as the Frenchman admits his passion for his sport is at an all-time high now that he feels his injury woes are behind him.

This time last year, Tsonga was nursing an arm injury that forced him out of the first 11 weeks of the season.

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He made his return in Miami, end of March, and made a run to the Roland Garros semi-finals in June, and despite a knee problem that affected him late in the season, the Frenchman recorded some decent results in the final three months that saw him sneak back into the top-10.

The 30-year-old believes he is on his way to regaining full fitness and is keen to get back on the court in the UAE capital, where he faces David Ferrer this evening.

“I think my motivation is even better than before. The problem with my knee in 2015, I feel it’s on the good way to be fixed so it gives me a lot of expectations for 2016,” Tsonga told Sport360 at Yas Marina Circuit.

The former Australian Open finalist concedes that some of the injuries that marred his career were his fault but says he keeps learning from his mistakes each time.

“Yes many times I blamed myself (for my injuries) because a few times it was my fault. I did wrong but I tried to learn from it and not do the same mistake again. But in life, you always want the best but sometimes you do the worst, it’s like this,” he says.

Having been on tour as a pro for more than a decade, Tsonga is used to spending the holiday season working hard and for him it is a choice not a sacrifice.

“It’s part of the game. If I want, I’m not a prisoner, if I want I can have New Year’s with family and friends, but the thing is I like tennis so much and I like to be on court so much so for me it’s not really an effort anymore. Because I know also I have the possibility to take people with me and have New Year’s in good conditions,” he explains.

Looking ahead to his weekend at Zayed Sports City for Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala World Tennis Championship, Tsonga – who will be making his fourth appearance – is keen to test himself against some of the world’s best.

“It’s good to have somebody in front of you who is able to compete at the best level straightaway,” he says of his upcoming match with Ferrer. “For me it’s a good opportunity to play the best players in the world and compare myself to them and be able to see if I had a good practice session or not.”