Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic will clash in the semi-finals of the Marseille Open after both progressed on Friday.
World number three to face local hero in Marseille
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic will clash in the Marseille Open semi-finals after both progressed on Friday.
Serbian Djokovic eased past Germany's Mischa Zverev 6-3 6-3, while local favourite Tsonga defeated Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-2 6-7 6-4.
Neither player faced a break point on their serve, although fourth seed Tsonga lost the second set tiebreak 7-1 before breaking eighth seed Lopez in the last game of the decider to wrap up the win after one hour and 44 minutes.
Djokovic is top seed for this tournament but faces a tough test against Tsonga, whom he beat in the 2008 Australian Open final but has lost his last three matches against - in the Masters Cup, the Paris Masters and the Bangkok Open.
"It is never a pleasant challenge to face Jo," said Djokovic of the world number 12.
"He has been playing great tennis in the past four months and if he goes on like that, he will be in the top five."
In his quarter-final, world number three Djokovic was rarely troubled by a player 73 places below him in the ATP rankings.
"Today, I returned well, I put him under constant pressure," Djokovic said of a match which lasted just 68 minutes.
He also hit back after receiving criticism for withdrawing with heat exhaustion from his Australian Open quarter-final against Andy Roddick last month.
"After I pulled out in Melbourne, I went back to Monte Carlo to undergo tests that proved that I was exhausted," he added.
"I then resumed training gradually before coming to Marseille on Friday. It is important to arrive early since the conditions, the balls, the surface changes in every tournament."
Djokovic is the only non-French player in the last four after Michael Llodra and Gilles Simon claimed straight-sets wins in the quarter-finals.
Second seed Simon overcame countryman Julien Benneteau 6-2 6-4 while Llodra had more difficulty battling past Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Llodra had the chance to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set but allowed Youzhny to level before taking it to a second tie-break, which the home favourite edged 7/3 to complete a 7-6 7-6 triumph.
