Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lived up to his top seed in the 2012 Winston-Salem Open on Tuesday night by beating Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to advance to the third round of the ATP tournament.
Winston-Salem Open 2012 Daily Recap: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Advances Along With Other Top Seeds
Tsonga, currently the No. 6-ranked player in the world, will face Ukranian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky in the third round. Stakhovsky advanced by knocking off 15th-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain, 6-2 6-3.
All four of the top seeds in the tournament survived the second round, including second seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. Berdych smacked 15 aces on his way to a 6-3, 7-5 win over Alex Bogomolov Jr.
Third-seed John Isner of the U.S. rallied to avoid an upset and beat Slovak Martin Klizan 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a match that lasted more than two hours. Meanwhile, fourth-seed Alexandr Dolgopolov made quick work of Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu, winning the match 6-1, 6-3 in just one hour.
Play continues Wednesday with the third round in the final hard-court tournament before the U.S. Open.
For more from the 2012 Winston-Salem Open, stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated tennis hub.
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