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Simon wins at Lyon; Tsonga loses

Gilles Simon reacts playing Robert Kendrick at at the French Open in Paris on May 27, 2009. (UPI Photo/ David Silpa)
Gilles Simon reacts playing Robert Kendrick at at the French Open in Paris on May 27, 2009. (UPI Photo/ David Silpa) | License Photo

LYON, France, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Second-seeded Gilles Simon won his quarterfinal match Friday, but top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost at the Lyon Tennis Grand Prix at Lyon, France.

Tsonga, the 2008 Australian Open runner-up, lost 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) to fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

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Clement was victorious after staving off a match point at 7-8 in the third-set tie-break.

"I was expecting a tough match for sure," Tsonga said. "I made a few errors that I am not used to making, but that's no excuse. He played well."

Simon won 85 percent of his service points, including six aces, in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win over another Frenchman, fifth-seeded Julien Benneteau.

"I was struggling with my returns a bit in the first set (but) in the second set, I started to return much better and was able to control the points," Simon said.

Also winning were No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia and France's Michael Llodra.

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