TORONTO: World number one Novak Djokovic slumped to a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round of the Toronto Masters on Thursday while Roger Federer advanced with a tight victory.

Newly married Djokovic, who needed almost three hours to get past Gael Monfils in his opening tie this week, looked under-prepared against Tsonga, the powerful French 13th seed.

The Serb was joined on the sidelines by his doubles partner Stan Wawrinka, with the Australian Open winner losing to Kevin Anderson 7-6 (10/8), 7-5.

Wimbledon champion Djokovic finished with 18 unforced errors and dropped serve four times.

“I didn’t play even close to what I intended before going to the court, just nothing was going -- no baseline, no serve, no return,” said Djokovic.

“It was just generally a very bad day, very poor performance. I couldn’t do much.”

Two-time Canadian winner Federer was meanwhile forced to the limit by Croatian Marin Cilic, with the Swiss second seed finally claiming a 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 win on his seventh match point.

Roger Federer of Switzerland plays a forehand against Croatia’s Marian Cilic during their match.—Reuters

Cilic ignited the drama in the 10th game of the second set, holding serve in the 19-minute epic and saving six Federer match points on the way to levelling at a set each.

Federer, who turns 33 on Friday, finally regained control late in the third set as he converted after more than two-and-a-half hours on the court.

“It was a thrilling match and I hope to keep it up tomorrow,” said the relieved winner, who next faces David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.

Tsonga next plays Andy Murray, who made the quarter-finals without hitting a ball when scheduled opponent Richard Gasquet withdrew with an abdominal strain.

Spain’s fifth seed Ferrer saved six break points in the second set in his comeback win over Ivan Dodig 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, while Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic kept home hopes alive by beating France’s Julien Benneteau 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 with 15 aces, taking four match points to go through to his third straight Canadian quarter-final.

Raonic takes on Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, a winner over Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov advanced into the last eight as he beat Tommy Robredo7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

SHARAPOVA, KVITOVA BEATEN

MONTREAL: Serena Williams cruised into the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Lucie Safarova, while sister Venus ousted Angelique Kerber as the Montreal tournament lost more high seeds on Thursday.

Petra Kvitova, ranked No. 2 and playing in her first event since winning her second Wimbledon title, fell 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 to Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova while fourth seed Maria Sharapova was beaten 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 by Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro.

German sixth seed Kerber and seventh seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia were also sent packing, leaving just two of the top eight seeds - Serena Williams and third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland - in the quarter-finals.

Playing in Montreal for the first time in 14 years, world number one Williams has looked at ease on the hardcourts after winning the tournament in Toronto last year.

While not as ruthless as in her 6-2, 6-0 demolition of former-US Open champion Sam Stosur in her opening match, the American still delivered on the big points when it mattered against her 15th-seeded Czech opponent.

“I really needed to serve well today because she was just hitting unreturnable serves for me,” said Williams.

Williams will now face Denmark’s former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, who brought American qualifier Shelby Rogers’ fairytale run to a shuddering 6-1, 6-0 end, in the quarter-finals.

“Obviously Serena has all the experience. She has a big serve. She takes the ball early,” said Wozniacki.

Venus Williams joined her sister in the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Kerber.

It was the second time in four days that Kerber fell to a Williams, as Serena beat the German in the Stanford final in California on Sunday.

“So many matches I’ve been on the short end of the stick. It felt good this time to pull one out,” Venus said after her second career win in five head-to-head matches with Kerber.

American Coco Vandeweghe beat Jankovic 7-6(8), 2-6, 7-5. Vandeweghe won three fewer points but still prevailed.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2014