by Richard Evans, FOXSports.com

Paris Masters

The game's best were in Paris last week to tune up for the ATP finals, and Richard Evans had it all covered. Recap all the best stories. Latest from Evans: Djokovic fights through for Paris win After loss, Federer turns focus to London Safin finally at peace as career ends More: PHOTOS: Action from Paris Masters

So Tsonga, the Muhammad Ali look-alike with a very different personality, was assured of a big reception when he returned to defend his crown here, and he did not disappoint.

Albert Montanes, a Spanish clay-court specialist who had lost to Tsonga in their only previous meeting in Casablanca last year, was just the kind of warm-up opposition the big Frenchman was wanting, and he made the most of the inviting opportunity with a 6-1, 7-5 victory.

As the tennis world discovered when Tsonga roared into the final of the Australian Open in 2008, there are few more exciting sights on a tennis court than Jo in full flow. He can pound his ground strokes with as much venom as the next man but — a rarity these days — he can also launch himself full tilt at the net to curtail points with crushing volleys.

A low-bouncing court — acrylic laid over boards — gave him plenty of encouragement to do just that, and Montanes was consistently taken out of the point before he could more than hit a service return.

Tsonga hopes to be celebrating at the end once again. (JACQUES DEMARTHON / Getty Images)

The first set was one-way traffic, but just when Montanes was threatening to make a nuisance of himself in the second, Tsonga — who hails from the auto racing city of Le Mans — hit the gas on his backhand and unleashed a couple of wonderful passers down the line at 5-5. Then he pulled the Spaniard wide with his flowing forehand, inducing the error that gave him two break points. Flustered, Montanes double-faulted, and Tsonga gave the crowd something more to scream about by producing two aces while serving out for victory.

Tsonga may do a fair impression of Ali when he bounces back on court after victory to receive the roars of the crowd, but he is normally a very reserved person, offering quiet words with a shy smile. But he was very upbeat after this victory, obviously thrilled that his recent wrist and lower back problems were giving him no problem.

"I felt very good from the start," he said. "Even when I warmed up, the feeling was that magically my tennis had returned. I made some mistakes but overall it was a very satisfying match. And I'm always happy to be back in this stadium."

A change of date has meant that the ATP ranking points Tsonga earned for winning here last year have already come off the computer so every victory brings extra points. He will need them because only if he gets to the final has he any chance at all of making the top eight who get to play in the ATP Tour World Finals at London's O2 Arena in 10 days' time.

Both the men Tsonga will need to overtake in order to make it across the Channel were also victorious today. First Nikolay Davydenko, a winner here in 2006, gave further evidence of his ability to finish the year with a flourish by sweeping past Germany's Benjamin Becker, 6-2, 6-1. Then Fernando Verdasco took an altogether more tortuous route into the third round with a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4 win over the Italian Andreas Seppi.

Verdasco, who lost to Andy Murray in the semifinal at Valencia last week, will have to up his form if he is to remain in the top eight, but Davydenko looks well set to play his best tennis — and that can be devastating. Despite missing the first three months of the year due to injury, the Russian has proved incredibly consistent again in recent months and won the last ATP Masters Series event, in Shanghai, while barely breaking sweat.

He will now play the winner of two big servers — Ivo Karlovic or Robin Soderling. But big serves have to be really big — and consistently so — to worry one of the best returners in the game.

There was a by-product of Verdasco's victory. It put an end to the chances of either Radek Stepanek or Marin Cilic getting straight into the eight-man field in London. Both the Czech and the Croat will have to hope for first reserve status, at best.

Richard Evans, who commentated at Wimbledon on BBC Radio for 20 years, has been covering tennis since the 1960's and has reported on more than 150 Grand Slams. He is the author of 15 books, including the official history of the Davis Cup and the unofficial history of the modern game in "Open Tennis." He lives in Florida but is still on the tour 20 weeks in the year.