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Day 9 of the the French Open proved to be a battle of supremacy between the seeded players with quarter-final spots at Roland Garros up for grabs. Most of the matches though had predictable outcomes with the two matches carried forward from the previous night finishing in favour of the men leading them, while the clay court experts in the other two morning games won their matches with relative ease. Sixth seed David Ferrer set the ball rolling, breezing past compatrior Marcel Granollers in three very easy sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0. Another Spaniard who had a good day at the office was the 12th seeded, Nicolas Almagro scoring a minor upset against the 8th seeded Serbian, Janko Tipsarevic to march into the quarter finals in a clinical performance. The fifth seed and local favorite, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, held off the challenge of his determined Swiss opponent, Stanislas Wawrinka to prevail in five sets 6-4, 7-6(6), 3-6, 3-6, 6-4. The ninth seeded Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro was also among the winners' circle today as he edged past the 7th seeded Czech, Tomas Berdych in four tight sets in a high-quality thriller 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.

The first match on Philippe Chatrier proved to be one-way traffic right from the onset as Ferrer dominated play with his consistent groundstrokes from both wings, with the younger Spaniard being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of winners that blazed from the veteran's racquet, the final tally being 41-17 in favor of Ferrer. Things started going further downhill for Grannolers as errors started to flow from the 20th seed. His inability to take advantage of break points further compounded his problems, with Ferrer finally putting an end to his fellow Spaniard's misery by donating a bagel in the final set. Ferrer is scheduled to face the winner of the match between the World no.4, Andy Murray and the 17th seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Over on Suzanne Lenglen, another Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, was making quite an impression against his higher ranked opponent, Janko Tipsarevic. The Spaniard, who is yet to drop a set in this year's French open, outplayed his opponent in almost every facet of the game as the Serbian simply had no answers to Almagro's power and shot-making ability. A total of 43 winners, which included 9 aces (the numbers being 21 and 3 respectively for Tipsarevic), more or less, sealed the deal in favor of the Spaniard cruising to the quarterfinal in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 where he is scheduled to face the winner of the match between the 13th seeded Juan Monaco and the six-time French Open champion, Rafael Nadal later tonight.

Back on Philippe Chatrier, Tsonga was battling against Wawrinka with both players tied at two sets a piece, but the Frenchman up 4-2 in the decider. It was the Frenchman who had had the better start, jumping to a two sets to love lead thanks to his all-court power-packed game before his typical mid-match blip had allowed the Swiss to draw level. Tsonga up a break from the previous night continued to ensure that the match was exciting, immediately dropping serving in the first game of the day to bring Wawrinka right back into the contest. Wawrinka held serve to level the set at 4-4 before Tsonga decided he had had enough, winning the next two games with the help of some classic winners to book his place in the last eight. The 5th seed, who is aiming to be the first Frenchman after Yannick Noah in 1983 to win the French open, will face the world no.1, Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, another previously suspended match between the ninth seeded, Juan Martin Del Potro and the seventh seeded, Tomas Berdych was taking place on Suzanne Lenglen. Play started off with the Argentine holding a 2 sets to 1 lead thanks to his powerful groundstrokes and an error-prone Berdych. The fourth set proved to be a topsy-turvy error-filled affair as both players struggled with their play, featuring 3 breaks of serves and a total of 28 errors. The Argentine got the initial break to race to a 2-0 lead. However, the lead was short-lived as the Czech broke back in the seventh game. The games continued to progress on serve till the 12th game, where the Argentine jumped to a 0-40 lead on Berdych's serve to gain 3 match points. The ninth seeded needed only one to clinch his place in the quarter-final where he is scheduled to face 16-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer.

Men's Singles - 4th Round
David Ferrer(ESP)[6] def. Marcel Granollers(ESP)[20] 6-3 6-2 6-0
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga(FRA)[5] def. Stanislas Wawrinka(SUI)[18] 6-4 7-6(6) 3-6 3-6 6-4
Nicolas Almagro(ESP)[12] def. Janko Tipsarevic(SRB)[8] 6-4 6-4 6-4
Juan Martin Del Potro(ARG)[9] def. Tomas Berdych(CZE)[7] 7-6(6) 1-6 6-3 7-5

File Photograph Copyright: Madrid Masters