French Open 2013: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advances to the quarterfinals

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga reached the French Open quarterfinals by beating Viktor Troicki of Serbia 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday.

The sixth-seeded Frenchman converted four of 11 breakpoints, held every service game, and clinched victory with a clipped volley at the net.

Tsonga is the last Frenchman to reach a Grand Slam final, losing to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in 2008.

He has yet to drop a set in the tournament and has only been taken to one tiebreaker so far.

“I’m very happy to win in three sets again — that’s fabulous,” said Tsonga, who now leads Troicki 4-3.

Tsonga was rarely troubled. Having saved a breakpoint in the fifth game of the second set, he then broke Troicki at love with a forehand pass down the line for a 4-2 lead.

Tsonga’s quarterfinal opponent will be the winner of Sunday’s later match between 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and 15th-seeded Gilles Simon of France.

“The next match is going to be very difficult, so I’ll have to be in very good shape,” Tsonga said. “I could only dream of playing in the quarterfinals of the French Open against Roger Federer. But whatever happens, they are both great players.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press