Tsonga wins, Verdasco falls

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga clinched his first victory since July with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 triumph over Feliciano Lopez at the ATP Shanghai Masters.

The Frenchman was in impressive form in just his second match back in action after missing the entire hard-court season due to a knee injury.

After both players held serve through the opening set, Tsonga took charge in the tie-break thanks to a pair of aces before clinching a 1-0 lead with a forehand winner.

The 12th seed then clinched an early break at the start of the second set and retained his advantage to move through to round two.
Important

“When you don’t play for two or three months, you lose your tennis,” Tsonga, who lost in the first round of the Tokyo Open last week, said.

“When you come back, you start (from) zero. So for me, it was really important to win my first match and today I did it.”

There was no such joy for Fernando Verdasco, however, as the ninth seed was knocked out in straight sets by Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker.

The Spaniard suffered a further blow to his hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Championships in London as he fell at the first hurdle for the third straight tournament.

“Of course, you know when things are not going well, everything comes (out) wrong and unlucky,” he said. “When the victories are coming, everything is easier.”

Having lost the opening set in a tight tie-break Verdasco then wasted two set points in the second, letting slip a 5-2 lead as he suffered a 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 defeat.

Battled through

There were no such problems for Jurgen Melzer, the 13th-seeded Austrian battling his way past wildcard Yang Tsung-hua of Taiwan 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

Juan Monaco of Argentina defeated Florent Serra of France 6-4 7-6 (7-3), while Serra’s compatriot Gilles Simon was beaten 6-4 6-1 by Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka

There was better news for another Frenchman in action, Jeremy Chardy dominating the second set against Marcos Baghdatis to see off the Cypriot 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.

The top eight seeds in the tournament received a first-round bye. World number one Rafael Nadal, fresh from his victory in the Japan Open in Tokyo, will take on Wawrinka in his opening match.

Britain’s Andy Murray will begin his bid for glory against either Radek Stepanek or Yan Bai of China.