Wilfried Tsonga opened their seasons with hard-fought, first-round victories at the Qatar Open Tuesday. The second-ranked Nadal overcame Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in a match that lasted two-and-a-half hours, while the sixth-ranked Tsonga beat Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-1. Later Nadal's perennial rival Roger Federer had an utterly different start to the year. The second-seeded defending champion from Switzerland needed less than an hour to get past the former champion, Nikolay Davydenko, by 6-2, 6-2. Nadal, who has struggled with a sore left shoulder since the end of last season, started well and looked headed for a routine victory. But the 43rd-ranked Kohlschreiber stepped up his net play in the second set and jumped out to a 4-1 lead on his way to evening the match. Kohlschreiber went up a break in the third but Nadal broke back and took control from there. “In general, for me, was a really positive match,” Nadal said. “I think I played a very good first set. The only moment that I didn't play well was the beginning of the second and after the tiebreak. For the rest, I think I played a very solid match.” Tsonga was challenged almost from the start by Jaziri in their first meeting. The 118th-ranked Tunisian kept Tsonga off balance, mixing in volleys and drop shots that had the third seed cursing to himself. But Tsonga could rely on his serve, which produced 12 aces. Federer next plays Grega Zemlja, a qualifier from Slovenia who won 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 against Sergei Bubka, a wild card entrant who is the son of the Soviet pole vaulter (of the same name) who was repeatedly voted the world's best athlete. In other matches Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain beat compatriot Pablo Andujar 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; Mikhail Youzhny of Russia beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2; and Ivo Karlovic of Croatia beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-7 (1/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).
