Simon through in Lyon as Tsonga goes out

Second seed Gilles Simon kept alive his chances of reaching the World Tour Finals by beating fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6 6-3 in Friday's Lyon Grand Prix quarter-finals. Top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, though, was knocked out 5-7 6-4 7-6 by wildcard Arnaud Clement in another all-French clash.
Clement survived a match point and a barrage of 27 aces to prevail after two hours 47 minutes against world number eight Tsonga. Simon, bidding to qualify for the season-ending World Tour Finals in London next month, proved too strong from the baseline for Benneteau.