3 Jun 2013

Federer through to quarters after five set fightback

11:43 am on 3 June 2013

Roger Federer reached a 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final after battling back to defeat French 15th seed Gilles Simon in five sets at the French Open.

Federer prevailed 6-1 4-6 2-6 6-2 6-3 and will meet another Frenchman, sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, for a place in the semi-finals.

Earlier Tommy Robredo also took the five-set route into the last eight.

Robredo, the forgotten man of Spanish tennis, became the first player in 86 years to come back from two sets to love down in three successive Grand Slam matches.

His breath-taking 6-7 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over 11th-seeded compatriot Nicolas Almagro put him into the last eight in Paris for the fifth time.

Robredo will tackle fellow Spaniard David Ferrer for a semi-final spot, after the Spanish fourth seed breezed past South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-1 6-1.