Novak Djokovic was tested on his competitive comeback Tuesday, beating Xavier Malisse 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors after being sidelined for six weeks with a back injury. Djokovic arrived on court for the first time since Sept. 18 wearing a fright mask resembling rock star Alice Cooper the night after Halloween. Dressed all in black, Djokovic was suitably ruthless when breaking his Belgian opponent's first service game. Earlier, fifth-seeded Mardy Fish retired against fellow American James Blake after just one game because of a hamstring injury. Michael Lammer, ranked No. 327, beat 37th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 6-4, 6-3 for his first tour win this year. Swiss No. 2 Stanislas Wawrinka easily beat Ivan Dodig of Croatia 6-4, 6-4. Jarkko Nieminen of Finland fought back to beat Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3, and Italy's Andreas Seppi edged Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-2. Tsonga survives a scare Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was given a scare by Spanish teenager Javier Marti before rallying to win their first-round match at the Valencia Open 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 Tuesday. The second-seeded Frenchman had won 11 of his last 13 matches coming in, including titles at Metz and Vienna. But Tsonga trailed early due to unforced errors and the smooth backhand of the 19-year-old wildcard, who was playing his first match against a top-10 player. Tsonga will play Sam Querrey after the American won his first match since June in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Ernest Gulbis of Latvia. Top-seeded David Ferrer opened his title defense by easily beating fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-2. Ferrer reeled off 10 straight games after the Davis Cup teammates were level at 3-3 in the first set, with Verdasco overcome by frustration after making nearly 50 unforced errors. Ferrer clinched the win on his third match point to set up a second-round match against Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil. “It wasn't easy at the start but he made more mistakes than normally and the game ended well,” Ferrer said. Marcel Granollers of Spain provided the first upset of the indoor tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win over seventh-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine. Kevin Anderson of South Africa beat Slovakia's Martin Klizan 6-1, 6-4.
