MONACO — Sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and seventh-seeded Richard Gasquet advanced to the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters Tuesday. Tsonga beat Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 (3), 6-2, while Gasquet had a little more trouble overcoming Benoit Paire 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic wasn't as fortunate, losing to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-6 (3), 6-1. Gasquet broke Paire twice in the third set and set up a match against either No. 9 Marin Cilic of Croatia or big-serving Kevin Anderson of South Africa. “That was an important match to win,” said Gasquet, who is still bothered by a sore ankle that forced him to skip France's Davis Cup quarterfinal loss to Argentina recently. “I'm happy I won the first round because now I'm only playing Thursday.” Paire leveled the match when he broke Gasquet with a superb cross-court backhand pass and then served out the set. “For sure he played better than me in the second set, I lost five games in a row,” Gasquet said. “He was being more aggressive and I was playing a little bit short.” Dimitrov had seven aces and broke Tipsarevic's serve four times. “It's never easy playing against Janko. I played him three times before, always losing in close matches,” said Dimitrov, who faces either Florian Mayer or Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round. “I fought until the last point in the first set. I gained an extra edge as the match goes on.” In other first-round matches on a perfect, sunny day, Spain's 10th seed Nicolas Almagro came back against Belgian David Goffin 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, while Swiss 13th seed Stanislas Wawrinka beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-3, 7-5. Argentine 14th seed Juan Monaco defeated Slovak Martin Klizan 6-4, 6-0, but French showman Gael Monfils lost to Albert Montanes 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany also advanced to the third round. Rafael Nadal lines up Wednesday against Australian Marinko Matosevic as the Spaniard begins his campaign for a record ninth straight trophy at the iconic venue. Nadal's opponent Matosevic faces the toughest ask in tennis after winning his first match on clay in almost a year to open Tuesday with a 7-5, 6-3 success over Fernando Verdasco. Top seed Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, informed tournament director Zeljko Franulovic that he would be fit to make his start in the second round after a bye. Djokovic has been putting in training and tests on his injured right ankle over the past few days. He will begin against Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who stands a respectable 3-4 in their career series. ITF to hear Pakistan appeal The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has agreed to hear an appeal by Pakistan against the awarding of its Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group 11 tie to New Zealand, the Pakistan Tennis Federation said Tuesday. “It is a major breakthrough for us after we got confirmation from the ITF they will be hearing our appeal against the referee's decision,” PTF secretary Mumtaz Yousuf told Reuters. Pakistan was disqualified from this month's Davis Cup tie against New Zealand played in Yangon, Myanmar, after Sri Lankan referee Ashita Ajigala ruled that the grass court had become unplayable and dangerous. The tie was played in Myanmar after New Zealand refused to visit Pakistan due to security concerns. Pakistani players had protested against the decision to award the tie to New Zealand. “We think that the ITF's decision to consider our appeal shows how seriously we are taking this matter and how seriously the ITF views our reservations on the referee's decision,” Yousuf said. The appeal will be heard by the ITF's Board of Directors next month. — Agencies
