Tsonga hangs tough, survives

BANGKOK – Top seed and defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France survived a tough match that went to three tiebreakers against an inspired Ernests Gulbis to advance to the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open on Thursday.

Tsonga took 2 hours, 12 minutes to prevail, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), over the rising Latvian star whom he also beat in Adelaide last year.

Gulbis, ranked No. 99 in the world, staved off a set point at 4-5 to take the opener, 7-6 (3), and appeared set to progress with a lead at 5-4 and 6-5 in the second set.

But the Frenchman managed to hold for 5-5 and 6-6 to force the tiebreak.

World No. 8 Tsonga, who won his first title in this event last year, was the more consistent player in the tiebreaker, which went to the Frenchman when the 21-year-old Gulbis hit a backhand long.

In the third set, games went with serve to set up another tiebreak, where Tsonga’s greater experience showed as he forced Gulbis into making errors.

“It was very tough but I fought all along,” said Tsonga. “Finally I won and I’m happy to win... I hope to play more good matches here. It’s important for me to defend my title.”

Earlier, Gilles Simon of France, playing his first match in a month, easily beat American Kevin Kim, 6-2, 6-2, to also reach the quarterfinals.

Second-seeded Simon, who was forced to retire with a knee injury during the US Open third round while facing Juan Carlos Ferrero, dominated play with an impressive baseline game to wrap up the second round match in just 61 minutes.

“I didn’t know what to expect but I played a good match,” said the 24-year-old Simon, who had a first-round bye. “My knee is still shaky but I tried not to think about it. I can play today but sometimes I wake up in the morning and it’s painful.” (AP)