By Tennis Now | Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Wild card Jo-Wilfried Tsonga summoned brilliance in the tie breaker, stopping Gilles Simon, 6-2, 7-6 (3), to reach the Montpellier quarterfinals for the fourth time.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga summoned striking one-handed magic to sustain his mastery of Gilles Simon.
In a clash of French friends, wild card Tsonga swept Simon, 6-2, 7-6 (3), to advance to the Montpellier quarterfinals for the fourth time in as many appearances.
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The three-time Montpellier semifinalist swatted 11 aces and saved four of five break points defeating Simon for the ninth time in 12 meetings.
The second-set tie breaker turned on the most pulsating point of the match.
The fourth-seeded Simon surged forward behind a net-cord shot and had his 33-year-old opponent stretched on the defensive. Tsonga responded to his predicament flicking a superb one-handed backhand pass crosscourt snatching a 5-3 lead in the tie breaker.
When Simon scattered a backhand down the line wide, Tsonga had match point. The 33-year-old Frenchman, who dropped just eight points on first serve, boomed a big serve out wide to close in one hour, 34 minutes.
A Brisbane semifinalist last month, Tsonga will face fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy for a place in the final four.
The sixth-seeded Chardy defeated French qualifier Antoine Hoang, 6-3, 7-5.
Tomas Berdych broke serve five times battering Benoit Paire, 6-2, 6-0. Berdych improved to 4-0 lifetime against the 58th-ranked Frenchman.
The 2012 champion improved to 9-2 on the season following his run to the Doha final last month.
The 33-year-old Berdych awaits either second-seeded David Goffin or Filip Krajinovic in the quarterfinals.