Tsonga sails through Beats Thomaz Bellucci 6-3 7-6(3) in second round, will face Sergiy Stakhovsky next

Tsonga sails through

Beats Thomaz Bellucci 6-3 7-6(3) in second round, will face Sergiy Stakhovsky next

North Carolina: Top seed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga launched his campaign at the Winston-Salem Open with a 6-3 7-6(3) victory over Thomaz Bellucci on Tuesday. Tsonga, ranked sixth in the world, converted just one of his nine break point opportunities, but saved all five that he faced to beat the Brazilian in a match lasting one hour 49 minutes. Tsonga, who also beat Bellucci at the London Olympics, was one of 16 seeded players to enjoy a first-round bye. In the third round he’ll face Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky, a 6-2 6-3 winner over Spain’s Pablo Andujar. Second seed Tomas Berdych, who like Tsonga is appearing for the first time at this US Open tune-up event, needed just 95 minutes to oust Russian Alex Bogomolov 6-3 7-5. Berdych will next play Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen, who beat German qualifier Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-3. Defending champion and third seed John Isner shook off a slow start to beat 50th-ranked Slovakian Martin Klizan 4-6 6-3 7-5. “The first one is normally the toughest,” said Isner, ranked 10th in the world. “Credit to him, he came out and was playing pretty well, and I wasn’t on top of my game and that’s all it took in the first set. From that point on, I knew it was going to be a battle.” Isner gained the decisive break for a 6-5 lead in the third set and wrapped up the victory in two hours and two minutes. “I wasn’t that great out there today, but I think as the tournament progresses I’ll keep getting stronger,” he said. Fourth seed Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov lost only 10 points on his serve and fired eight aces en route to a 6-1 6-3 victory over Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun. —AFP Jankovic in quarters Second seed Jelena Jankovic and No 3 Roberta Vinci advanced to the quarterfinals on Tuesday at the WTA Texas Open. Jankovic, the former world No 1, defeated Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 7-6 (5) 6-2 to line up a quarterfinal clash against eighth seed Sorana Cirstea, a 6-1 7-5 winner over France’s Alize Cornet. Italy’s Vinci encountered little resistance in a 6-2 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Polona Hercog. She’ll face seventh seed Chanelle Scheepers, who beat New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic 6-4 7-6(3). Fourth-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer was a second-round casualty, falling to Australian Casey Dellacqua 6-4 6-3.