Montreal: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga hit Roger Federer with an unpleasant Wimbledon flashback on Thursday, brushing aside the Swiss maestro 7-6 4-6 6-1 to book his place in an unlikely quarter-final line-up at the Montreal Masters.
Federer came into the third round encounter seeking revenge on the Frenchman who had dashed his bid for a seventh Wimbledon crown five weeks ago by storming back from two sets down to steal a shock last-eight win.
The venue may have changed but the result was the same, as Tsonga again proved stronger in the closing stages than the world number three, winning an entertaining contest packed with dazzling rallies that delighted a packed centre court crowd.
"He beat me at Wimbledon, so I don't know how much of a surprise it is," Federer, a two-time winner in Canada, told reporters. "He's playing well... I thought if he was going to play well again and me not at my best, he could do it again. He's confident right now."
Federer's exit capped a surprising few days on the Canadian hardcourts with three of the world's top four failing to reach the quarter-finals.
World number two Spaniard Rafa Nadal, a double winner in Canada and number four Briton Andy Murray, the two-time defending champion, both lost their opening matches to leave Novak Djokovic as the only former champion left in the draw.
Djokovic, winner in 2007, continued to settle into his new role as world number one with a business-like 7-5 6-2 third round victory over Croatian Marin Cilic that extended his season record to a spectacular 50-1.
Montreal Masters
Men's singles, third round: 6-Mardy Fish (US) beats Ernests Gulbis (Latvia) 4-6 6-3 6-4 ; 5-Gael Monfils (France) beats 12-Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 3-6 7-6(0) 7-6(5); Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) beats Ivan Dodig (Croatia) 6-1 6-4; 14-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beats Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 6-4 4-6 6-4; 1-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beats Marin Cilic (Croatia) 7-5 6-2;
7-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beats Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 6-3 7-6(2)
Toronto Cup
Women's singles, third round: Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beats 8-Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-3 6-3; Serena Williams (US) beats Zheng Jie (China) 4-6 6-3 6-3; 3-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat 3-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 6-4 7-6(4); Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) beat 5-Maria Sharapova (Russia) 6-3 7-5.
