Tsonga, Mahut win to make French crowd happy

Paris: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made the Paris spectators happy when he recovered from a first-set loss to move into the second round of the French Open on Sunday's first day.

Minutes later, Nicolas Mahut doubled the home fans' delight when he joined his fellow Frenchman in the next round after a four-set defeat of American Andy Roddick.

World number five Tsonga, the highest seed in action on the opening day, beat Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov 1-6 6-3 6-2 6-4, waking up after a slow start on the Philippe Chatrier court to earn a standing ovation at the end.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France clenches his fists after defeating Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia in the first round match at the French Open tennis tournament in Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Sunday May 27, 2012. (AP)

Mahut, who had lost eight times in the Roland Garros first round before this year, looked vulnerable again when, having strapped up his left knee, he dropped the third set, but he came back to take the match 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-2.

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