VIENNA — Lukas Rosol of Czech Republic defeated former champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 at the Erste Bank Open on Thursday, dealing a blow to the Frenchman's chances of qualifying for the ATP finals.
At the start of the week Tsonga was ninth in this year's standings with only the top eight advancing to the season-ending tournament in London in November.
The fourth-seeded Tsonga, who won here in 2011, had not lost in three previous matches against Rosol, who next plays another Frenchman, sixth-seeded Gael Monfils, or Paolo Lorenzi of Italy.
The top-two seeded players did advance, with David Ferrer routing fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 6-1 and Kevin Anderson of South Africa rallying to beat Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-5.