Tsonga wins three-tiebreaker match

Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga survived a Thursday match that featured three tiebreakers and won a quarterfinal slot at the $608,500 Thailand Open.

Tsonga, the tournament’s defending champion, came out on top of a 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) match with Ernests Gulbis. The match was very even — Tsonga won in total points 111-110 — and there was just one break-point situation in 36 games.

But Tsonga grabbed the advantage in the final tiebreaker to escape the second round.

Second-seeded Gilles Simon had a much easier time in dispatching Kevin Kim 6-2, 6-2 in 61 minutes. Simon won 62 percent of the points in the match.

John Isner, seeded eighth, also advanced, taking a close 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 decision from Mischa Zverev.

Marco Chiudinelli knocked out Marat Safin 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), Andreas Beck stopped Donald Young 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 and Evgeny Korolev blasted Robby Ginepri 6-1, 6-1 in Thursday’s other matches.

Friday’s quarterfinals schedule has Tsonga playing Chiudinelli, Simon meeting Korolev, Isner going against fourth-seeded Viktor Troicki and Beck drawing No. 6-seeded Jurgen Melzer.

The Thailand Open title is worth $100,100 to the winner.