Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat an error-prone Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (4), 6-3 Monday in the opening round of the Shanghai Masters for his first win since returning from a three-month injury layoff.
Both players held serve throughout the first set before Tsonga took control of the tiebreaker with two aces and a backhand passing shot. He clinched the set with a forehand winner that skidded off the line.
The 12th-seeded Tsonga earned the only break of the match in the second set and sealed the win when the Spaniard hit a backhand wide. Tsonga lost in the first round of the Tokyo Open last week, his first tournament since injuring his knee in a quarterfinal loss to Andy Murray at Wimbledon.
''When you don't play for two or three months, you lose your tennis,'' Tsonga said. ''When you come back, you start (from) zero. So for me, it was really important to win my first match and today, I did it.''
Also, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain beat Eduardo Schwank of Argentina 6-7 (8), 6-2, 6-4.
