Tsonga beats Reix to reach Metz quarters
Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France began the defence of his Moselle Open title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win against countryman Clement Reix in the second round in Metz on Wednesday.
Tsonga hit six aces and saved all three breakpoint chances he faced, which all came in the second set. Tsonga will face either American player Jesse Levine or Michael Berrer of Germany in the quarterfinal.
Fourth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany also advanced to the last eight after beating James Blake 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4.
Mayer broke the American in the ninth game of the decider and served out for the victory. He next meets fifth-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy or Frenchman Vincent Millot.
Seppi reached the second round with a 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-4 win against Ivan Dodig of Croatia in a scrappy match which saw 14 breaks of serve overall.
In other first-round matches, Gilles Muller of Luxembourg beat Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 (5), 6-4; Frenchman Nicolas Mahut topped Daniel Brands of Germany 7-6 (8), 7-6 (4); Levine beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany 6-3, 6-2, and Berrer advanced when Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic retired while trailing 6-4, 2-0.
