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                   Tsonga Swats Federer Aside in French Open

   by Reuters

   Roger Federer calls Jo-Wilfried Tsonga a "great friend" but received no
   mercy from the Frenchman who swept him aside in devastating fashion on
   Tuesday to boost hopes of a first home men's winner at Roland Garros
   since 1983.

   An inspired Tsonga played like a man on a mission and Federer simply
   could not live with him, slumping to a chastening 7-5 6-3 6-3 French
   Open quarter-final defeat in front of a spellbound crowd on a
   sun-drenched Philippe Chatrier court.

   Serena Williams has been on a mission ever since taking to the park
   courts in Compton and the 31-year-old moved a step closer to a 16th
   major singles title, which would be one behind Federer, as she beat
   Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1 3-6 6-3.

   The American top seed, who snapped a run of four successive
   quarter-final defeats here since she won the title in 2002, will face
   diminutive Italian Sara Errani in the semi-finals.

   Fifth seed Errani continued to prove that last year's final appearance
   in Paris was no flash in the pan as she edged past Poland's Agnieszka
   Radwanska 6-4 7-6 (6) in what was her first career win against a player
   ranked in the top four.

   In Tuesday's other men's quarter-final, Tommy Robredo ran out of escape
   routes as he was overwhelmed by fourth seed David Ferrer 6-2 6-1 6-1 in
   an all-Spanish affair.

   Tsonga has been part of the pack chasing the elite top-four of men's
   tennis ever since bursting through to reach the 2008 Australian Open
   final where he lost to Novak Djokovic. But he had never gone beyond the
   last eight in Paris.

   When Federer wafted a backhand long on match point, the crowd erupted
   and Tsonga set off on his trademark celebratory leap, the tantalizing
   prospect of the 28-year-old going on to emulate Yannick Noah became the
   talk of the town.

   Federer has suffered at the hands of Tsonga before, notably at
   Wimbledon in 2011 when the Frenchman, who has a passing resemblance to
   boxing great Muhammad Ali, bounced off the ropes to beat the Swiss
   great from two sets down.

   That had been a real toe-to-toe contest but this time Federer trudged
   off well-beaten, waving to the crowd and knowing his last chance of a
   second French Open title may have gone.
   
   Sad Federer

   "I'm pretty sad about the match and the way I played," Federer, one of
   four players aged 30 or over to reach the last eight here this year,
   told reporters.

   "Jo-Willy played great today. He was better than me in all areas today.
   He returned better than I did, served better than I did. I struggled to
   find my rhythm."

   Tsonga, despite his dazzling brilliance on Tuesday, will have to reach
   a similar level against Ferrer to become the first Frenchman to reach
   the final here since Henri Leconte in 1988.

   Ferrer showed why he is second in command in Spain's claycourt army
   behind Rafa Nadal by thrashing iron-man Robredo who had recovered
   two-set deficits in his previous three rounds.

   The 31-year-old Ferrer, seeded four this year, has marched through the
   draw without dropping a set, although neither has Tsonga so something
   will have to give on Thursday.

   "He beat Roger playing beautiful tennis," Ferrer, who has a 0-14 career
   record against Federer but leads Tsonga 2-1, said.

   "Winning in three sets against Federer is something which is usually
   very difficult to do."

   Federer beat Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Gilles Simon in rounds
   three and four and when he jumped into a 4-2 lead on Tuesday he looked
   like making it a hat-trick.

   However, Tsonga had something up his sleeve, telling reporters
   afterwards that his coach Roger Rasheed had instructed him to go out
   and play like Nadal.

   "I had a long discussion with Roger, and before the match we tried to
   see how Roger Federer plays on the clay," Tsonga said.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/tsonga-swats-federer-aside-in-french-open/1675363.html