Tsonga strong in Montpellier

Second seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed only 45 minutes to reach the quarterfinals of the Open de Sud de France, swatting aside countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-1 6-2.

World No.14 Tsonga – an Australian Open nine years ago – hit seven aces, won 95 per cent of points on his first serve and lost only one point on it all match. He broke Herbert’s serve four times while not facing a single break point.

Doubles expert Herbert is ranked 96th in singles but was totally outclassed.

Tsonga next faces Russian 20-year-old Daniil Medvedev, who beat eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-3 6-3. Medvedev was in clinical mood, taking all four of his chances on the Spaniard’s serve as well as producing eight aces.

Frenchmen Benoit Paire and Richard Gasquet – the two-time defending champion – also reached the last eight.

The third-seeded Gasquet broke Tunisian Malek Jaziri’s serve five times in a 7-5 6-2 win, while Paire downed fifth-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-4 7-6(5).

Paire found his serving range with 14 aces and forced 16 chances on Lopez’s serve, breaking him twice. He next faces Germany’s Dustin Brown and Gasquet meets countryman Kenny De Schepper.

Alexander Zverev also advanced to the last eight after beating Britain’s Aljaz Bedene 7-5 3-6 6-4; he next faces Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

The 19-year-old German, who took 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal to five sets in the third round of the Australian Open, notched 10 aces.