After a decade on tour, Alexandre Sidorenko is producing the best results of his career at age 28.

With an Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 379, Sidorenko needed a wild card to appear in the main draw of last week’s $50,000 event in St. Brieuc, France. But the Frenchman made the most of his opportunity, producing inspired tennis to reach his first ATP Challenger Tour final in eight years. With the home crowd fully behind him in the championship against No. 6 seed Igor Sijsling, Sidorenko nailed a backhand passing shot on his first match point to take the epic match and win his first ATP Challenger Tour singles title, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).

“It means a lot to me,” said Sidorenko. “After everything that I’ve been through, to see that I’m getting my form back and now winning my first Challenger is fantastic. It helps a lot for the future just to keep going and keep believing in myself.”

The win also signifies a remarkable turnaround in the direction of Sidorenko’s career. As recently as a few months ago, the Frenchman was considering abandoning singles for a career as a doubles specialist.

“I was improving much faster in doubles and starting to play more Challengers at that level,” he explained. “But I think playing doubles also improved my singles just by playing at the bigger tournaments and being in that atmosphere more often. Now my singles is starting to improve at the same speed as my doubles.”

With a current Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 225, Sidorenko has already cut his ranking in half since the start of the year. He attributes the hard work he put in during the off-season with being able to sustain a rigorous schedule that has seen him play in nine tournaments since the start of the year, including this week at the $50,000 event in Napoli, Italy.

”I had a very good off-season and worked a lot, which has helped me to keep getting better each day,” said Sidorenko. “I was a little bit lucky to win some of the matches, but I also wouldn’t be able to physically handle winning this many matches and playing so much if I didn’t have a good pre-season. It’s shown me that I can compete with the guys at this level.”

Sidorenko’s confident form has also led to some inspired shotmaking. During his quarter-final win in St. Brieuc over Tobias Kamke, the Frenchman hit a no-look, over-the-shoulder passing shot winner that brought the crowd to their feet.

WATCH: Sidorenko Fires No-Look Hot Shot

“We spoke after the match and he said it was an unbelievable shot, but then the video came out the next day and [Kamke] said even he didn’t realise it was a no-look shot,” said Sidorenko. “Every player spoke to me about it afterwards. I don’t even know how I made it. It was a lot of luck, but I was also very happy about it!”

With a ranking that will now enable him to gain direct entry into most ATP Challenger Tour events, Sidorenko believes he is well on his way to achieving his goals for the 2016 season.

“My first goal was to get into qualifying for Roland Garros, so I should be in there now,” said Sidorenko. “I also want to finish the year close to my best ranking (No. 168, which he achieved in June 2010). I’m in good shape for that and have had a good run lately, so I just want to keep this form going now.”

NextGen star Hyeon Chung kicked off the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship main draw with a win over Victor Estrella Burgos on Monday. The 19 year old is making his second tournament appearance (reached the second round last year, l. to Verdasco).

Chung, who was last year’s ATP World Tour Most Improved Player of the Year, fired seven aces as he beat the 35-year-old Dominican 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-0 to reach the second round, where he awaits the winner of eighth seed Paolo Lorenzi and wild card Tommy Paul.

In doubles, wild card team Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul beat Nicholas Monroe and Neal Skupski 7-6(6), 4-6, 10-4. 

Argentine Facundo Bagnis set a second-round clash with second seed Joao Sousa at the Grand Prix Hassan II as he defeated local wild card Lamine Ouahab 7-6(2), 6-2 on Monday in Marrakech.

The No. 95-ranked Bagnis, who claimed his second tour-level win of the season, was joined in the second round by countryman Maximo Gonzalez. The qualifier dismissed Daniel Munoz de la Nava 6-1, 6-4 in 72 minutes.

Former finalist Albert Montanes opened his campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over qualifier Franko Skugor. The 35-year-old Spaniard finished runner-up to Paul-Henri Mathieu in the 2007 final. Nikola Mektic also advanced to the second round with a 7-5, 6-3 win over home hope Reda El Amrani.

In doubles, Pablo Carreno Busta and Inigo Cervantes topped their fellow Spaniards Nicolas Almagro and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-6.

In Houston for the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, #NextGen star Frances Tiafoe shares the last time…

I missed a flight?
Last year, first week in November going to the Knoxville Challenger. I was just joking around on my phone, and then I got into a (Friday Night Lights) episode on Netflix, and I was literally right next to the gate and right next to the flight agent and just missed it, didn’t even hear it. That was pretty embarrassing… (I said to the flight agent), “There’s no way you said it,” and they were like, “Of course I did. I said it a million times. Everyone’s on the flight.” It was pretty embarrassing… Then I just went home and then told my mom and she was pretty upset. She said, “You’re just not a smart kid.”

I lost something important?
Actually today, I can’t really find my credit card. Ha, ha. But then I just found it… I lose stuff all the time so that’s an everyday occurrence… I was about to cancel it but it turned out it was just in my pants.

I paid money to rent a tennis court or buy tennis balls?
Never… I don’t think I’ve ever paid to play tennis… back home sometimes you have to buy balls but never have to pay to play on a court.

Being famous helped me?
I’m starting to get decently known in (Washington) D.C. and… I was at (an Outback Steakhouse in late December) and one woman said she’s going to pay for my dinner. So that was pretty cool. I was with my brother…I got the bill and the (waiter) said the woman over there paid for it. So I went over and said thank you and hugged her, and said, “You didn’t have to do that, really”… I had no idea who she was. I’d never seen her in my life… She said, “I’m a big fan,” and then I said, “Is there anything I can do?” (She said), “No, just keep doing you.”

I strung a tennis racquet?
Never strung a tennis racquet. I did the crosses once (about a year ago), but it just takes too long, and I just got lazy, and then said screw it. I just never cared to learn. It’s too much of an effort for me, I think… (The crosses) took me about 45 minutes. I was trying to be all precise with it. Because there were already mains on it and to do the crosses, you have to keep weaving, keep weaving, I said, “Nah, this is too much of a grind.”

I cooked for myself and others?
The last time I cooked for myself it went pretty bad. It was in (December) and I was in my apartment. I was with a bunch of friends. And I said, yeah, I got this. My mom does this at home all the time. I watched her, and it just started going bad, everything was burnt. I was like, “Oh my God. Any takeout?”… I’ve never doing that again… No fires, so that was good… I was trying to make some lasagna and I just overcooked it, and just so bad… It was a goner… We said, “McDonald’s sounds good!”

I met a childhood idol?
I met Paul Pierce at a Washington Wizards game during the playoffs last year. That was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe I met Paul Pierce. Obviously his legacy and the big three – him, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett. It was unbelievable seeing him.

I shared a hotel room with another player?
Maui… in January was the last time. It was me, Stefan Kozlov, Michael Mmoh, and we had a blast… We were just joking around, would go on the beach every day. I felt like I wasn’t even playing a tournament… It was the three of us, two beds. I would sleep with Koz most of the days. Mmoh moves too much, so we just gave him his own bed. It was fun. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had at a tournament in a long time… I slept well. Stefan’s a heavy sleeper. I’d sometimes wake up with his arm around me. I’d try to move him, and he just doesn’t move, he’s like a stone.

I asked someone famous for an autograph or selfie?
I saw Dwyane Wade in the locker room of the Miami Heat (in December). We had a connect there… I took a selfie with him, I was with my girlfriend. It was unbelievable.

Next Generation star Borna Coric, former Grand Prix Hassan II champion Paul-Henri Mathieu, Italian Simone Bolelli and local wild card Reda El Amrani took some time off on Sunday to enjoy Marrakech, visiting the famous Menara Gardens.

The players were picked up from their hotel and driven to Menara in a horse-drawn carriage. Menara Gardens is a former weekend residence of the royal family. It includes a large swimming pool and offers panoramic views of the Atlas Mountains.

“It’s nice to see something of the city and the landscape,” said Bolelli. “Marrakech is a beautiful city and I’m looking forward to playing here.”

Mathieu, who won the tournament in 2007 when it took place in Casablanca, is happy to be back in Morocco. “I really had fun today. [Tournament Director] Hicham [Arazi] arranged a really nice tour for us and it was nice to get to see a bit more of the city.”

View Marrakech Draw

The Grand Prix Hassan II, inaugurated in 1986, is entirely funded by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI. Marrakech, newly relocated from Casablanca in 2016, is the only ATP World Tour stop on the African continent. Two Moroccans have won the title in their home country: Hicham Arazi in 1997 and Younes El Aynaoui in 2002.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Joao Sousa and Coric are the top three seeds at the 2016 edition of this ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament.