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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was the first winner at the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Monday, when the 12th-seeded Frenchman defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 7-6(4), 6-3 in 85 minutes.
Tsonga hit nine aces, won 81 per cent of service points and saved both break points he faced for his third straight win over Lopez, who saved four of five break points and hit three double faults.
“I think I have to work [on] everything because when you come back, you lose a lot of things,” said Tsonga, who missed the entire summer hard-court swing due to a left knee patella injury. “I have to practise my serve - my best weapon and also my worst.”
The 25-year-old Tsonga played his first event last week at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, losing to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round. He has a 27-13 match record on the season.
Jurgen Melzer, the No. 13 seed from Austria, beat the second-youngest player in the draw, 19-year-old wild card Tsung-Hua Yang, 6-4, 7-6(5) in one hour and 49 minutes.
Melzer bounced back from squandering one match point in a second round loss to Viktor Troicki in Tokyo last week, by recording his 44th win of the season. He is bidding to become the first player to qualify for the singles and doubles at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals since Sergio Casal in 1990.
Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who is currently a career-high No. 35 in the South African Airways 2010 ATP Rankings, fought past Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 6-7(8), 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes. He won his second ATP World Tour title at the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok (d. Nieminen) eight days ago.
