Nadal, Tsonga earn victories at Qatar Open
Posted January 3, 2012 1:39 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DOHA, Qatar — Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga opened their season with hard-fought first-round victories at the Qatar Open on Tuesday.
The second-ranked Nadal overcame Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 while the sixth-ranked Tsonga beat Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-1.
Nadal, who has struggled with a sore left shoulder since the end of last season, started well and looked headed for a routine victory against Kohlschreiber.
But the 43rd-ranked German stepped up his net play in the second set and jumped out to a 4-1 lead on his way to evening the match. Kohlschreiber went up a break in the third but Nadal broke back and took control from there.
