LONDON — An abdomen injury that scuppered Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's Wimbledon warm-up plans stood up to the test of a five-set battle as he reached the second round with a nerve-jangling 7-6(8) 6-7(3) 6-4 3-6 6-2 win over Gilles Muller.
The French 13th seed was a no-show at Den Bosch, Halle and Nottingham but the lack of preparation did little to dim his desire as he traded blows for almost four hours in sweltering conditions with the left-hander from Luxembourg.
The 30 degrees Celsius heat that had turned the sunken Court Two into a suffocating sauna was not to everyone's liking, with one female spectator tipping a bottle of water over her head to keep cool.