Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has avoided a shock in the first round of the Rotterdam Open by coming from a set down to beat Florian Mayer 4-6 6-3 6-1.

Mayer drew first blood in the contest when he broke Tsonga in just the third game to take a lead in the opening set.

The German held on to that lead to clinch the opener 6-4 as both players successfully defended their own serve, not allowing the other a single break point for the remainder of the set.

Both players were similarly impressive on their own serve in the second set, with Tsonga blowing a rare chance of a break point in the fourth game as Mayer fought back to hold.

Tsonga got another chance four games later, however, as this time he took full advantage to take control of the set, eventually wrapping it up 6-3 by holding serve in the next game.

That seemed to take the sting out of Mayer's game and he suffered something of a collapse in the final set, losing three consecutive service games to go down 6-1.