French top tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga didn't let the home crowd down as he hold off German Daniel Brands's strong challenge at the opening day of French Open to win the first round in five sets on Sunday.

Tsonga, eighth seeded, defeated his unseeded rival in 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(2), 7-5, setting up a second-round encounter with compatriot Josselin Ouanna, who defeated Lukasz Kubot from Poland in 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-2 and 6-4.

Although other seeded players such as Robin Soderling, Marin Cilic and Mikhail Youzhny all qualified for the second round in a much easier way, the 25-year-old Tsonga didn't feel worried about his form.

French top tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga didn't let the home crowd down as he hold off German Daniel Brands's strong challenge at the opening day of French Open to win the first round in five sets on Sunday.

"It was a long match, but I have two days to rest. I think I should be okay," said Tsonga. "I'm happy I won. The number of guys who have won a tournament having a difficult first round or even had to save match points, I mean, that's very often the case. So, I mean, it's not a big deal."

Before Tsogna's tough promotion, fifth seed Soderling from Sweden beat home player Laurent Recouderc quite comfortably in 6-0, 6-2 and 6-3.

"It's always nice to have a quick match in the early rounds," said Soderling, who surprisingly knocked out king of clay Rafael Nadal, but lost to Roger Federer in the final of last year's French Open.

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