French Open 2015: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga keeps home interest high by seeing off Tomas Berdych

It is 32 years since the French Open produced a home-grown men’s champion, but the host nation continues to produce a conveyor belt of international talent. Five Frenchmen made the last 16 of this year’s tournament, which matches the country’s best performance in the Open era, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga brought further cheer to the Paris public here when he became the first home player to reach the quarter-finals.

Tsonga did it in style, beating Tomas Berdych, who has been one of this year’s most consistent performers, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. Berdych had won five of his six previous matches against the 30-year-old Frenchman, including a meeting on clay in Madrid last month, but was outplayed from the start.

The match would have finished earlier had Tsonga not failed to serve out for the third set when he led 5-4. Berdych, the world No 4, went on to win the tie-break 7-5 and threatened to take control of the fourth set after making an early break, but Tsonga responded in impressive style.

Having broken to lead 5-3 with a crunching forehand winner, the world No 15 served out to love to complete his win, which he celebrated with a dance of joy. It was Tsonga’s 88th victory at a Grand Slam tournament, a figure bettered by only two of his fellow countrymen, Jean Borotra and Henri Cochet.

In the quarter-finals Tsonga will face Kei Nishikori, who reached the last eight here for the first time with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili. Nishikori is only the second Japanese man to make the quarter-finals here following Jiro Satoh, who reached the last four in 1931 and 1933.

Another Frenchman, Gilles Simon, had his run ended by Stan Wawrinka, who won 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to equal his best performance here. Simon, meanwhile, has never reached the quarter-finals at his home Grand Slam event.

Wawrinka’s quarter-final opponent will be the winner of the fourth-round encounter between Roger Federer and Gaël Monfils, which will resume today. On a cold and damp day when two hours and 40 minutes was lost to rain, play was halted at 8.32pm because of the fading light with the score at one set apiece. Federer took the opening set 6-3 before Monfils won the second 6-4.

French interest in the women’s singles ended with Alizé Cornet’s 6-2, 7-6 defeat by Elina Svitolina, who is through to her first quarter-final at a Grand Slam tournament. The 20-year-old from Ukraine will next face Ana Ivanovic, who is through to the last eight for the first time since she won the title here in 2008.

Ivanovic, who beat Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, appeared to have the world at her feet when she beat Dinara Safina in the 2008 final at the age of just 20, but it remains her only Grand Slam title. The former world No 1 struggled for long periods in subsequent years: tomorrow’s quarter-final will be only the third she has contested at Grand Slam level since her victory here.

“On the one hand it does feel like it’s a different life,” Ivanovic said after her victory. “On the other hand, I feel like time is really flying.”