Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came from a set down to beat Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.
Lopez won the opening set after breaking Tsonga twice before Tsonga levelled the tie winning the second set 6-4, but, after over two hours of play, Tsonga then hit an ace to close out the third 7-5.
“This is probably one of the best victories of my career, because it was tough for me to play tennis,” Tsonga said.
“I had so much pain for so many months. Today I won one match. That was one of my goals for these few weeks. I am happy like a kid.”
In other matches, Pierre Hugues Herbert eased past Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-4, securing the win with an impressive 11 aces.
The Frenchman will take on either Cameron Norrie or Constant Lestienne in the next round.
“I knew I would need to be aggressive from the start, as I knew Kei would be better than me from the baseline,” Herbert said.
“I cannot complain about anything today and I stuck to my game plan from the beginning to the end. I am very happy with the win. I kept moving forwards and did let him play.”
Aussie qualifier Matthew Ebden came from a set down to beat Benjamin Bonzi 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3, and Mackenzie McDonald edged past Stefano Travaglia 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-1).
