Janko Tipsarevic has held off a fightback from Fernando Verdasco to move into the French Open third round.

The Serb started poorly and was broken in his first service game, which quickly put him 3-0 down.

However, he broke back in the fifth and both men held serve from that point on to take the opener into a tie-break, which Tipsarevic stormed 7-3.

The second set was completely one-way traffic, with Verdasco holding serve just once as the Serb took it 6-1 in just 30 minutes.

However, Verdasco dug deep and battled back, with a break in Tipsarevic's first service game enough to win a set in which both men otherwise served well.

The Serb started to attack the Spaniard's serve and got what looked to be a crucial break in the sixth to go up 4-2 in the set.

An immediate break back and another as Tipsarevic served to level the set saw Verdasco take the match into a deciding set.

Neither player was giving anything away and, despite Tipsarevic earning a couple of break points in the sixth, both serves were holding up.

That was until the Serb edged 7-6 ahead and turned up the pressure at just the right moment to force a break and with it the match.