Tsonga retires at Valencia Open against Youzhny

Wed Nov 4, 4:02 PM EST
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VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired in the first round of the Valencia Open on Tuesday with a wrist injury while trailing 6-7 (3), 6-0, 3-0 to Mikhail Youzhny.

The third-seeded Frenchman had dropped nine straight games before quitting with the left wrist problem. Tsonga had dominated the tiebreaker by using a drop shot and then an ace to take a 5-2 lead before clinching the first set when Youzhny returned wide.

Fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France defeated Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to become the first player to reach the quarterfinals.

Sixth-seeded Gael Monfils wasn't able to join his countryman when he was upset by local favorite Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 7-5.

In other first-round matches, fourth-seeded Fernando Verdasco won after fellow Spaniard Oscar Hernandez retired while trailing 6-1, 0-1; Feliciano Lopez beat Alberto Martin 7-5, 6-3 in an all-Spanish matchup; and Janko Tipsarevic beat Victor Hanescu 6-4, 6-3.

The Associated Press