Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will not proceed at Valencia

Sam Querrey beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (pictured), 7-6 (5), 6-2 to reach the Valencia Open quarterfinals on Thursday, dealing a blow to the second-seeded Frenchman’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals.

The American player secured his first back-to-back ATP wins since June, leaving Tsonga to rely on his performance at next week’s Paris Masters to clinch one of the final three places for the season-ending event in London.

Tsonga would have moved up one spot to No. 6 with a win over Querrey at the City of Arts and Sciences, but his serve deserted him in the second set as the 116th-ranked American broke twice.

Juan Monaco won his second-round match 6-3, 6-1 over Fabio Fognini, while 2010 finalist Marcel Granollers also reached the last eight.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press