Nadal wins, Tsonga loses at Japan Open

TOKYO, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Rafael Nadal won Tuesday but defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was ousted in the first-round playoff at the Japan Open tennis tournament.

Nadal topped Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 6-4 in a tight match. Nadal won just five more points (74-69) than Giraldo but converted two of seven break-point chances while saving all four of those he faced.

Tsonga, the tournament's No. 3 seed, was beaten by Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in the day's final match 6-4. Nieminen won 56 percent of the points in the match, including 26-of-41 in the third set. He didn't face a break point in the set and had a pair of service breaks in both the first and third sets.

Marco Chiudinelli also advanced on an upset, defeating eighth-seeded Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-0 in 61 minutes. Chiudinelli dropped only 12 points in seven service games.

No. 2-seeded Andy Roddick was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Tatsuma Ito while fourth-seeded Jurgen Melzer survived 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 match against Juan Monaco and No. 5-seeded Gael Monfils moved to the second round by beating Go Soeda 7-6 (12-10), 6-4.

Other first-round winners Tuesday were Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, Viktor Troicki, Andreas Seppi and Jeremy Chardy.