Summary Djokovic slumped to a 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Tsonga in the third round of the Toronto Masters.
TORONTO, Canada (AFP) - 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.
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. "I was unlucky with some shot selections on some of the match points and he hung in there.
"It was nice to win this one as I ve had some tight losses this season. In the third set, his level didn t drop, I just had to keep going and try to create chances."
- Play with your mind -
Djokovic cut a disconsolate figure after his surprisingly heavy loss.
"Obviously I feel disappointment and I m trying to understand what I did wrong. Confidence is the hardest thing to get but easiest thing to lose. Matches like this can really play with your mind," he said.
"I didn t feel exhausted or something like that, but even in the first match (almost three hours against Monfils) I was not feeling very comfortable on the court. I wasn t hitting the ball clean and made a lot of unforced errors."
Tsonga saved a break point in the final game of the 63-minute rout, with the heavy hitter pounding over a serve which Djokovic could not handle on match point.
Djokovic came to Canada having won five of the last six Masters events he had contested.
Thursday s loss was only his fifth of the season against 38 wins.
The victory marked the third time that Tsonga had beaten a world number one after putting out Rafael Nadal at Queen s three years ago and defeating Federer in Canada in 2009.
"For me today it was great, I played a good match," said Tsonga. "I was in good condition from the start, I served pretty well. I was pretty aggressive, it s something positive for me."
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 Robredo 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
