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By Matt Hursh                        Photo Credit: Julian Finney/AFP/Getty Images
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France celebrates after winning his quarterfinal round match against Roger Federer of Switzerland on Day Nine of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on June 29, 2011 in London, England.  (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
(August 11, 2011) For the second time in as many tournaments, it was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who sent 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer packing earlier than he would have liked.

Before Montreal, the last time we had seen Federer was when he had blown a two set lead against the Frenchman. On Thursday, Tsonga prevailed over the Swiss mastermind again by a score of 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1, making Federer 1-2 in his past three ATP matches.

On his day, Tsonga is among the best in the world, and his recent play against Federer has put that on full display. Although he didn’t break Federer’s serve in the first two sets, Tsonga produced when it mattered, grabbing his only two breaks in the decisive third set.

He also dominated on his serve in the final set, allowing Federer to claim just three total return points in an impressive display of serving and shot-making.

The Swiss, who once made ten consecutive Grand Slam finals, has appeared in only three tournament finals this season, with only one title to his name.

Tsonga now moves on to the quarterfinals, where he will play eighth seeded Nicholas Almagro, who beat Richard Gasquet 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Thursday.

Fifth seeded Gael Monfils was another winner on Thursday. The Frenchman rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (5) victory over Victor Troicki, the 12th seed in Montreal.

Monfils came out of the gate slowly, surrendering three breaks in five service games in a losing effort in the first set. However, he allowed just one break to Troicki for the remainder of the match, which was enough to move him into the quarterfinals, where he will play World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

American Mardy Fish also rallied from a set down to claim victory in the round of 16 on Thursday. The sixth seeded American ousted Ernests Gulbis, who beat him in the finals in Los Angeles two and a half weeks ago, by a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a workmanlike performance.

Fish will play the only Swiss remaining, 14 seed Stanislas Wawrinka, in the quarterfinals.

Janko Tipsarevic was another winner, knocking off Ivan Dodig, the man who took out Rafael Nadal, 6-1, 6-4. Tipsarevic awaits World No. 9 Tomas Berdych in a quarterfinal match-up.

The quarterfinals will begin on Friday, with all four matches in action.

 

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