Jo-Wilfried Tsonga progressed to the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open this afternoon thanks to a hard-fought three-set win over fellow Frenchman Eduoard Roger-Vasselin.
One break was all Tsonga needed to clinch the opener as he broke Roger-Vasselin at the first time of asking before surrendering just two points on his own serve in a 6-3 success.
The second set was completely the opposite as Roger-Vasselin raced into a 5-0 lead before faltering.
Tsonga won four in a row to get back on serve but was then broken again in the 10th game as Roger-Vasselin forced a decider by taking the set 6-4.
In the final set, Tsonga struck the first blow by breaking in the opening game before saving a break-back point in the next.
That was the closest that Roger-Vasselin would get to breaking back as Tsonga went on to take the set 6-3, wrapping up the match in two hours and 10 minutes.
He will next face either Lleyton Hewitt or Santiago Giraldo in the last 32 ahead of a possible third-round match against Andy Murray.
Pascal Lemesre
