Melbourne - Arabstoday
Winners on the weekend in Doha and Chennai, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Milos Raonic lost their opening matches Wednesday at the invitational Kooyong Classic, a warmup for next week\'s Australian Open. Tsonga, who won the Qatar Open in an all-French final Saturday against Gael Monfils, lost 6-4, 6-3 to Austria\'s Jurgen Melzer as cold, blustery conditions made it difficult for players. Raonic, who didn\'t drop a service game en route to winning the Chennai title, lost 6-1, 6-2 to Mardy Fish, who had some mixed performances as part of the US team at the Hopman Cup last week. \"It\'s been a long time since I\'ve really felt 100 percent healthy, which I do now,\" said Fish, who finished in the top 10 for the first time last season. \"And now I just need the matches and I need to get going again.\" Raonic withdrew from the eight-man tournament after the loss, citing an upset stomach. Australian teenager Bernard Tomic beat No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Monfils finished off the day with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) win over American veteran Andy Roddick. Monfils hit a between-the-legs forehand to seal the opening tiebreaker after earning four set points with a full-stretch backhand crosscourt winner that caught Roddick by surprise. After a close second set, the deciding tiebreaker was lopsided with Monfils earning four match points on a Roddick backhand error. Roddick saved one before Monfils put away the match with a crisp volley.