Defending BNP Paribas Masters champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stayed in contention for a berth at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals by producing a strong serving display to crush fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-2, 6-3 Thursday in the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Paris (Bercy).

Tsonga is currently 10th in the year-to-date South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings with 2,875 points, 425 points behind the eighth-placed Fernando Verdasco, who lost to Marin Cilic in third-round action Thursday. In order to qualify for the eight-man season finale, Tsonga must defend his title in Paris (Bercy). Last year, the 24 year old defeated David Nalbandian in a winner-take-all final to secure the last spot at the season climax.

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"I'm not here for the Finals; I'm here for Bercy," insisted Tsonga afterwards. "I will only qualify if I win this tournament, so I'm not thinking about London. I'm thinking about Bercy. I'm thinking about defending my title, or even more, about going to get a new title instead of thinking about London."

In his third successive victory over the No. 12-ranked Simon, Tsonga fired 13 aces and lost just four points on serve throughout the 52-minute clash. The Le Mans native broke serve twice in the first set, winning four straight games from 2-2, and an early break in the second set proved enough to secure victory and improve to a 3-1 record over Simon.

"My level of game is good right now, but during the past weeks I didn't play well," lamented Tsonga. "I played a good first match here, and today, of course, it was not a very tight match, but I was feeling the ball well. I served very well in spite of the circumstances, so in fact I feel a bit better than last year (when he won the title). But it's going to be difficult [to defend the title], because the other players also improved a lot compared to last year, like Novak or Soderling and other players. They're all very good."

Tsonga is chasing his third ATP World Tour title of the season, following successes at the SA Tennis Open (d. Chardy) in Johannesburg and the Open 13 (d. Llodra) in Marseille in February and victory at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships (d. Youzhny) in Tokyo last month.

Cilic took advantage of a nervous and, at times, erratic Verdasco to prevail 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round, taking the Spaniard’s season-finale qualification fate out of his own hands.

Verdasco, winner of the Pilot Pen Tennis (d. Querrey) trophy in New Haven and a semi-finalist at the Australian Open (l. to Nadal), stands on 3,300 points in the Battle for London and must wait to see how Robin Soderling (3,010), Tsonga and Fernando Gonzalez (2,870) fare in Paris (Bercy) before learning if he will qualify for the season finale for the first time.

The 21-year-old Cilic, a two-time winner on the ATP World Tour this year at the Aircel Chennai Open (d. Devvarman) and the PBZ Zagreb Indoors (d. Ancic), is through to the quarter-finals at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the second time. He also reached the last eight at the Rogers Cup (l. to Simon) in Canada last year.

Cilic next will face No. 16 seed Gael Monfils, who saved all six break points he faced and struck 16 aces to defeat fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-3. The 23-year-old Monfils, who recorded his 40th match win of the season (40-18) record, is through to the quarter-finals of his hometown tournament for the first time in four visits.  

"It's going to be a tough match," said Monfils, looking ahead. "He plays well. He serves well. He's a very good player from the baseline, and I expect a tough match."