World number eight Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kept the hope alive for a homegrown champion at the Roland Garros tournament with an impressive straight sets win over 2009 champion Roger Federer 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 at their quarterfinal match on Tuesday. Tsonga is attempting to be the first Frenchman since Yannick Noah in 1983 to win the Roland Garros title. A year ago, Tsonga was on the verge of reaching the semifinals but squandered four match points and eventually the match itself with a five-set quarterfinal loss to top-ranked Novak Djokovic.
By reaching the semifinals, Tsonga became the first Frenchman since 2008 (Gael Monfils) to reach the final four in this Grand Slam event and he has yet to lose a set. Tsonga is no longer new in the latter stages of a Grand Slam event, having reached the Australian Open final in 2008 (lost to Djokovic).
Up next for Tsonga is fourth seed David Ferrer who dismissed fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo. Ferrer leads the head to head series record against Tsonga with 2-1.
“I thought he played great today,” said Federer.
“He was, in all areas, better than me today. That’s why the result was pretty clean. I was impressed by the way he played today. I think I struggled a little bit everywhere. To be honest, personally, I’m pretty sad about the match and the way I played,” the Swiss star added.
