ROUEN, France — Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet won their opening singles in contrasting fashion Friday to give France a 2-0 lead against Israel in the first round of the Davis Cup. While the eighth-ranked Tsonga had to overcome a sloppy third set to beat Amir Weintraub 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, Gasquet followed up with a far more convincing 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win against Dudi Sela. The first match was interrupted for about a minute by a handful of fans shouting as Weintraub was serving midway through the second, but it was not clear what the commotion was about. Troicki beats Goffin Viktor Troicki fought back from two sets down to beat David Goffin 1-6, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 Friday and give Serbia a 1-0 lead over Belgium in the first round of the Davis Cup at Charleroi in Belgium. Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic will face 127th-ranked Olivier Rochus of Belgium the second match. The Belgian hosts picked slow indoor clay as the surface, hoping it will unsettle the top-ranked Serb, who has just returned from playing on the faster hardcourts of Australia. Doubles are set for Saturday before reverse singles Sunday. Kirilenko in semifinals Second-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia reached the Pattaya Open semifinals by beating Elena Vesnina 7-6 (6), 6-3 Friday. Kirilenko, who last year lost to Ana Ivanovic in the final, will take on Sorana Cirstea of Romania on Saturday. Cirstea defeated Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-0. Another Russian, Nina Bratchikova, ended Ayumi Morita's run in the tournament with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory. Morita had knocked out defending champion Ivanovic in the first round. Bratchikova will next face fifth-seeded Sabine Lisicki, who dropped the first set against Marina Erakovic of New Zelaand before winning 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Errani targets Suarez Italian top seed Sara Errani can avenge her shock Australian Open first round defeat to Carla Suarez Navarro when she tackles the Spaniard in the Paris Open quarterfinals Friday. Errani reached the last eight in the French capital without breaking sweat when Slovak opponent Magdalena Rybarikova retired with a viral illness when trailing 4-0 in the first set on Thursday. Suarez Navarro beat eighth-seeded Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 6-3. Dutch lucky loser Kiki Bertens blasted five aces en route to a 7-5, 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova. Czech Lucie Safarova, twice a runner-up in Paris, beat France's Alize Cornet 6-2, 4-6 6-2 and faces Bertens for a semifinal spot. French wildcard Kristina Mladenovic took out Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4, 6-4. Nadal arrives in Chile Rafael Nadal says it's time to test his injured left knee after sitting out for seven months — the longest break of his career. Nadal, who will be trying for his eighth French Open title later this year, says the knee still bothers him and that he may have to reduce his tournament appearances. — Agencies
