ROUEN, France (AP) — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame a sloppy third set to beat Amir Weintraub 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 and give France a 1-0 lead over Israel in the first round of the Davis Cup on Friday.
The Frenchman seemed to be cruising until his shot-making fell apart in the third set, where he made 13 unforced errors as Weintraub broke him twice to get back into the match.
Tsonga looked increasingly nervous in the fourth set but was given several reprieves as Weintraub made numerous errors as he went for winners.
Tsonga retrieved two big forehands and earned himself match point when Weintraub missed an easy smash at the net, and closed out the victory when the Israeli returned into the net.
Later Friday, ranked Richard Gasquet looked to extend France’s lead against Dudi Sela.
Switzerland vs. Czech Republic
GENEVA (AP) — Stanislas Wawrinka gave Switzerland a 1-0 lead over the defending champion Czech Republic on Friday in the first round of the Davis Cup by beating Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
Wawrinka fell behind midway through the first set, but broke straight back and was seldom threatened after.
In the second singles match, Tomas Berdych was to play 289th-ranked Henri Laaksonen, who is making his Davis Cup debut for Switzerland.
Roger Federer is skipping the best-of-five series and Czech veteran Radek Stepanek is sidelined by injury.
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