Thursday 11 April 2019 14:49, UK
Britain's Kyle Edmund exited the Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco, suffering defeat to a resurgent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday.
Edmund, runner-up in last year's tournament, has been hoping for a good run at the clay-court event in Marrakesh to enable him to climb into the world's top 20 from his current position of 22.
But Wild Card Tsonga, who was laid low for seven months last year with a knee injury, proved too powerful for Edmund and won through 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 after an hour and 31 minutes.
Frenchman Tsonga, ranked 116, has been showing signs of improvement in his game having already claimed the Open Sud de France title in February.
Edmund did not face a break point in the opening set but veteran Tsonga took his chance in the fifth game of the second and then broke again to seal victory.
He will now face Lorenzo Sonego in the quarter-finals after the Italian qualifier defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
Fourth seed Gilles Simon comfortably defeated Guido Andreozzi 6-2 6-2 and Taro Daniel saw off Adrian Menendez-Maceiras in three sets.
At the US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston, Norwegian Casper Ruud upset fourth seed Reilly Opelka after the world No 95 came from a set down to win 4-6 6-4 6-4, while American Ryan Harrison lost to Henri Laaksonen 6-4 7-5.
Elsewhere, Marcel Granollers-Pujol beat Australian Bernard Tomic 6-1 6-2 in less than an hour and second seed Jeremy Chardy fell to Christian Garin 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (9-7).
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