France's Tsonga wins in Lyon, leads four compatriots into quarters

LYON, France -- Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga led five Frenchmen into the Lyon Grand Prix quarterfinals on Thursday by beating Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-2.

Tsonga was joined by second-seeded Gilles Simon, former Lyon finalist Marc Gicquel, Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra.

"This is a beautiful French campaign here in Lyon," Llodra said after ousting fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 6-4. "We are not far away from the title. The French are playing well."

Third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia was the only non-French winner on the day, serving 27 aces in beating Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. The 2007 Lyon champion will be the only non-French player in the quarterfinals.

Tsonga hit 13 aces and lost only 12 points on serve to down last week's Stockholm Open finalist in 64 minutes.

He will face Clement, who beat seventh-seeded Benjamin Becker of Germany 6-4, 6-3.

Simon thrashed qualifier David Guez 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes in an all-French match and Gicquel upset fellow Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-0.

"It was almost the perfect match," said Gicquel, who will next play wild card Llodra. "I served very well and I was aggressive enough on important points. It's probably my best match so far this season."