Tsonga and Melzer reach quarterfinals in Vienna

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the quarterfinals of the Erste Bank Open after Jarkko Nieminen pulled out with a right thigh injury while the Frenchman was leading 3-6, 6-1, 3-1.

Jurgen Melzer scored a 7-5, 6-1 win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez to also advance.

Tsonga dropped his first service game to go 3-0 down and scored only five points against Nieminen’s serve in the opening set. But the Frenchman soon took control of the match with two breaks in the second set, hitting 14 aces in total.

“It was difficult in the beginning, the first set was tough for me,” Tsonga said. “Jarkko played well but he was not able to continue. It’s like this in tennis a lot at the end of the year.”

“Hopefully I can get some points here for the ATP finals,” said Tsonga, who is chasing one of three remaining open spots at the ATP finals.

Tsonga next plays Xavier Melisse, who rallied to upset Fabio Fognini 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3.

Melzer held serve throughout and didn’t face a break point until the third game of the second set.

“I did not start well in the match but I served well so I could rely on that,” the Austrian said. “After the first couple of games, I felt more secure and (Garcia-Lopez) started to make some mistakes.”

Melzer’s match was initially scheduled for Wednesday but he asked organizers for an extra day off to rest a right thigh injury.

“I felt it two or three times in the match, but I’m happy with how it is now,” said Melzer, who will play Kevin Anderson in the quarterfinals.