Gasquet, Tsonga Tough It Out; Roddick Advances

© SportissimoJo-Wilfried Tsonga In Action

French second seed Richard Gasquet (pictured) scraped through his opening round match at the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon on Tuesday, edging past Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(3).

The Beziers native, who fired 17 aces in the 2 hr., 5 min., encounter, has played in Lyon three times previously and captured the title on his second visit in 2006 (d. Gicquel). The 22-year-old right-hander, who is yet to win an ATP title this season, reached his 11th final in July at Stuttgart, where he finished runner-up to Juan Martin del Potro. He improved to a 32-21 match record on the season.

Top seeded American Andy Roddick also advanced, dispatching Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-6(5), 6-4 in a serving contest where both men fired 18 aces and won at least 70 per cent of points on serve.

In extending his head-to-head series lead over Mahut to 4-0, Roddick also improved to a 46-15 match record on the season. The 26-year-old Texas resident is bidding to qualify for the Tennis Masters Cup for a sixth straight year and is currently No. 6 in the ATP 2008 Race with 369 points. He has captured three ATP titles this season at San Jose (d. Stepanek), Dubai (d. Lopez) and Beijing (d. Sela) and was runner-up at Los Angeles (l. to del Potro).

French third seed and last year’s semifinalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga endured a tough test from his compatriot and 2007 runner-up Marc Gicquel, prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 after 1 hr., 56 min. The 23 year old, who reached the Australian Open final (l. to Djokovic) and won his first ATP title at Bangkok (d. Djokovic), improved to a 26-11 match record.

Frenchman Fabrice Santoro booked his second round spot with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Fabio Fognini. The 35-year-old, who made his event debut in 1990, won his first ATP title at Lyon in 1997 with victory over Tommy Haas. In July the World No. 54 won his sixth ATP title at Newport on grass (d. Amritraj).

Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti secured his place in the second round at the expense of sixth seed Ivo Karlovic, defeating the Croatian 7-6(4), 6-3. Former World No. 6 Lapentti (currently No. 83) stared down 13 aces but was able to break serve twice to prevail after 1 hr., 31 min. The 32-year-old captured the Lyon title in 1999, defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the final.

American Robby Ginepri rounded out the day's action, knocking out defending champion Sebastien Grosjean of France 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4.