VIENNA (AP) Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame an awful second set to beat Daniel Brands of Germany 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 and reach the quarterfinals of the Erste Bank Open on Thursday.
No. 2 Tommy Haas and No. 3 Fabio Fognini also advanced from the second round, but No. 4 Philipp Kohlschreiber was upset 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (0) by Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium.
Tsonga, who won the event in 2011, scored just five points on Brands' serve in the second set before dominating the third.
"A first match is always tough," said the eighth-ranked Frenchman, who had a bye in the first round. "After he broke me early in the second set, I decided to save my energy for the finish of the match. ... The most important thing is that I came through. I feel great here, I have never lost on this court."
Tsonga will next meet 149th-ranked Dominic Thiem of Austria, who needed 47 minutes to beat Jaroslav Pospisil of Czech Republic 6-1, 6-1.