Metz, France - Top-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France began the defence of his Moselle Open title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win against countryman Clement Reix in the second round on Wednesday.
Tsonga hit six aces and saved all three breakpoint chances he faced, which all came in the second set. Tsonga will face either America's Jesse Levine or Michael Berrer of Germany in the quarter-finals.
Fourth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany also advanced to the last eight after beating James Blake 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-4.
Mayer broke the American in the ninth game of the decider and served out for the victory. He next meets fifth-seeded Andreas Seppi of Italy or Frenchman Vincent Millot.
Seppi reached the second round with a 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 6-4 win against Ivan Dodig of Croatia in a scrappy match which saw 14 breaks of serve overall.
In remaining first-round matches, Levine beat Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany 6-3, 6-2, and Berrer advanced when Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic retired while trailing 6-4, 2-0.
Results from the third day of the ATP Moselle Open on Wednesday (x denotes seeding):
First round
Gilles Muller (LUX) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4
Jesse Levine (USA) bt Cedrik-Marcel Stebe (GER) 6-3, 6-2
Michael Berrer (GER) bt Jan Hajek (CZE) 6-4, 2-0 retired
Andreas Seppi (ITA x5) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO) 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 6-4
Second round
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x1) bt Clement Reix (FRA) 6-3, 6-3
Florian Mayer (GER x4) bt James Blake (USA) 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-4