Defending champion Peter Gojowczyk came from a set down and hit 17 aces to beat three-time champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Tuesday in the first round of the Moselle Open in Metz, France.

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Gojowczyk, a 29-year-old German, needed one hour, 45 minutes to beat Tsonga 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4. Tsonga, from France, used his strong serve before the home fans to win the first set in his return from a knee injury. He had not played since February.

Gojowczyk saved the three break points he faced and also withstood 17 aces in his win. He will play No. 1 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan in the Round of 16.

In other action, fifth-seeded Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia defeated French qualifier Kenny De Schepper 6-2, 7-6 (0). Basilashvili dominated with his serve, dropping only eight points in the 64-minute match.

He will face another Frenchman, Ugo Humbert, who came from a set down to defeat Bernard Tomic of Australia 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 in just over two hours.

German qualifier Matthias Bachinger advanced to meet 2016 champion Lucas Pouille of France with his 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Spaniard Jaume Munar. Fellow qualifier Constant Lestienne of France also advanced by beating Jurgen Zopp of Estonia 6-3, 7-5. Lestienne will face countryman Richard Gasquet for a berth in the quarter-finals.

St Petersburg Open

Defending champion Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina opened his title defense Tuesday by defeating Lucas Miedler of Austria 7-5, 6-3 at St. Petersburg, Russia.

He got off to a slow start and was down a double break in the first set, but the sixth-seeded Dzumhur rallied to move on in one hour, 25 minutes. His comeback was propelled by converting five of nine break-point chances.

He has won six straight matches in St. Petersburg, dating to 2017, and will play Ilya Ivashka or Guido Pella for a spot in the quarter-finals.

In other action, eighth-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev defeated Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-4, 6-1 in 67 minutes. He will face Mikhail Kukushkin or Denis Istomin in the second round.

Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany defeated Russian Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-6 (6) in 68 minutes, aided by his strong serving. He landed 18 aces and won 88 percent of his first-serve points. He will face top seed Dominic Thiem of Austria in the second round.

Italian Matteo Berrettini needed just less than two hours to defeat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-3. He next will face Canadian Denis Shapovalov or fellow Spaniard Adrian Menendez-Maceiras in the second round. Also, Lukas Lacko of Slovakia was a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 winner over Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans.

--Field Level Media