Tsonga sneaks through in Bangkok

BANGKOK, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed a pair of tie-break wins Wednesday to get out of the second round of the $576,000 Thailand Open in Bangkok.

Tsonga struggled through a 7-6 (11-9), 3-6, 7-6 (7-1) decision over Lukas Dlouhy. Tsonga won just four more points than Dlouhy over the course of the 208 points in the match.

Fourth-seeded Gael Monfils ended with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win over Robert Kendrick in his second-round match Wednesday that was closer than the straight-set final score indicated.

The Thailand Open first round was completed with fifth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen whipping Marko Djokovic, 6-2, 6-0, and eighth-seeded Jurgen Melzer beating Donald Young, 6-3, 6-3. Also winning first-rounders Wednesday were Viktor Troicki, Mischa Zverev and Simone Bolelli.

Djokovic is the 17-year-old brother of tournament top-seed and world No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic, who has his first Thailand Open match Thursday. The loss Wednesday marked the ATP debut of the younger Djokovic.