The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Tsonga survives

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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Tsonga survives

HAMBURG: Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recovered from a first set whitewash to beat French compatriot Nicolas Mahut in the first round of the Hamburg Masters Series here on Monday.

Tsonga got off to a rusty start, winning just 12 of 40 points in the first set, but bounced back to record a 0-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 win after one hour and 55 minutes.

The 23-year-old roared back to hit five aces and won 33 of his 39 first-service points in the second and third sets as he vastly improved his game. Spaniard Fernando Verdasco caused an early upset when he beat 10th-seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-3, 6-2.

Safina withdraws

Dinara Safina pulled out of the Italian Open due to a back injury. Two years ago, Safina reached the Italian Open final but lost to Martina Hingis.

The results:

Hamburg Masters: First round: Simone Bolelli bt Marcel Granollers 7-5, 6-2; Ivo Minar bt Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4; Fernando Verdasco bt Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2; Juan Monaco bt Filippo Volandri 6-1, 4-0 (retd); Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Nicolas Mahut 0-6, 7-6(5), 6-2; Olivier Rochus bt Gianluca Naso 7-6(11), 2-6, 6-4; Juan Ignacio Chela bt Jose Antonio Sanchezde Luna 6-3, 6-3; Michael Llodra bt Guillermo Canas 7-6(7), 6-2; Albert Montanes bt Mardy Fish 6-1, 6-3; Andy Murray bt Dmitry Tursunov 6-4, 6-1; Marat Safin bt Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-2.

Italian Open: First round: Vera Zvonareva bt Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-3; Agnes Szavay b Yan Zi 6-1, 6-1; Virginie Razzano bt Julia Vakulenko 6-1, 6-2; Samantha Stosur bt Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 6-2; Virginia Ruano Pascual bt Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-3; Caroline Wozniacki bt Tamira Paszek 6-3, 6-0; Monica Niculescu bt Jill Craybas 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Francesca Schiavone bt Lucie Safarova 6-4, 7-5; Anabel Medina Garrigues bt Alisa Kleybanova 6-1, 7-5; Iveta Benesova bt Elena Vesnina 6-3, 7-5; Alona Bondarenko bt Mara Santangelo 6-2, 6-2; Olga Govortsova bt Karin Knapp 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. — Agencies

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