Top-seeded Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
and Gilles Simon were easy second-round winners Thursday at the Lyon Tennis
Grand Prix.
The former Australian Open runner-up Tsonga trounced diminutive Belgian
Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-2, while Simon whipped qualifier and fellow Frenchman
David Guez 6-1, 6-2 on the indoor carpet at Palais des Sports Lyon Gerland.
Tsonga's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be fellow Frenchman Arnaud
Clement, while Simon will take on fifth-seeded countryman Julien Benneteau.
Meanwhile, third-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic snuck past oft-injured German
Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and wild card and French favorite Michael Llodra
leveled fourth-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-4. The 2001 Lyon champion
Ljubicic fired 27 aces at Kiefer on Day 4.
More upsets came when Marc Gicquel upended sixth-seeded fellow Frenchman Paul-
Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-0 and the long-time French favorite Clement cut down
seventh-seeded German Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-3. Mathieu won this event in
2002. The wild card Clement was the 2000 winner.
Friday's other quarters will pit Ljubicic against France's Florent Serra and
Gicquel versus Llodra.
Seven of the remaining eight men in the draw hail from the host nation.
©2009 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
