Tsonga retires at Valencia opener

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VALENCIA, Spain -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired in the first round of the Valencia Open on Wednesday with a wrist injury while trailing 6-7 (3), 6-0, 3-0 to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.

The third-seeded Frenchman had dropped nine straight games before quitting with the left wrist problem. Tsonga had dominated the tiebreaker by using a drop shot and then an ace to take a 5-2 lead before clinching the first set when Youzhny returned wide.

Fifth-seeded Gilles Simon of France defeated Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to become the first player to reach the quarter-finals.

In another first-round match, Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia beat Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-4, 6-3.

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