Tsonga progresses

The scoreline did not do justice to the German’s resistance in what was a tough match for a rather sluggish Tsonga, but the fourth seed stepped up his intensity at crucial moments to prevail.

It was a solid, if unspectacular, performance for Tsonga but the Frenchman was jubilant as he departed Court Central, celebrating his 27th birthday with a victory in front of a delighted Monaco crowd.

"Verdasco is far from being a present," Tsonga said.

"But on the other hand, it's a gift because I'm going to confront one of the best players on clay court.

"It's always good to play against the top players on clay because you can get used to the high quality of their game and you will not be surprised when you play them in major events."

Tsonga took a 4-1 head-to-head record into the encounter with the world number 34, but started very slowly as the first set drifted along in a rather lethargic fashion.

The Frenchman, now at a career-high ranking of five, was playing in Monte Carlo for the third successive year and finally began to make his class tell later in the set.

While Tsonga was entirely comfortable on his serve, he made little impact on his opponent’s until the sixth game of the opening set: the Frenchman slammed successive forehands beyond Kohlschreiber’s defences to break in clinical fashion.

It may not have been an entirely convincing showing from Tsonga, but he closed out the set with a solid service hold before breaking again to take it 6-2, belying the closely-fought nature of the play.

Kohlschreiber began the second set in a similar fashion to the first as he frustrated Tsonga with varied approach play and constant bursts in court to disrupt the Frenchman’s rhythm.

The German managed to remain on terms with his opponent for most of the second set before he imploded under immense pressure in the 10th game.

Tsonga capitalised ruthlessly as Kohlschreiber’s serve finally buckled at 5-4 up and he secured his progression with a string of lusty blows from the back of the court to break at the crucial point in the set.

The world number five will next take on Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in the last 16.