Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recovered from a poor start to defeat Andrey Kuznetsov 1-6 6-3 6-2 6-3 in the first round of the French Open.
The Frenchman got off to a shocker, winning just one game in the first set as opponent's serve barely faltered.
Tsonga, the number four seed, looked more like his old self in the second, claiming a break early on and capitalising with a powerful forehand strike.
A sublime backhand slice helped Tsonga break in the third set to take a comfortable lead, but his Russian opponent still had fight in him.
Kuznetsof made him work for every point in the latter stages, and the pair maintained a thrilling rally in the eighth game of the third set, which ended with Tsonga finally taking the lead in the game.
The final set was the closest of the afternoon, but Tsonga's nerve held and he took it 4-6 to book a second round tie against Cedric-Marcel Stebe.
Mark Langshaw
