Paris: Roger Federer moved an inch closer of winning the French Open as he defeated Gilles Simon 6-1,4-6,2-6,6-2,6-3 to reach the quaerterfinals at Roland Garros here on Sunday. This was his 900th tour win but it came a hard way as he got bogged down in couple of sets in the mid of the match which made it look an absolute thriller. Only Jimmy Connors (1,156), Ivan Lendl (1,068) and Guillermo Vilas (940) have won more times on the tour than Federer.

Federer who managed to reach his 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal with his record equalling 58th win at Roland Garros will now face the sixth seed Jo Wilfried Tsonga for a place in semi-finals after taking his career five-set record to 22-1.

The Swiss star was looking in brilliant touch in his 56th consecutive Grand Slam as he stamped the first set quite easily. But second set of this match brought a twist as Federer lost it 4-6. The loss certainly disrupted Federer's momentum as he lost the thrid set as well by 2-6. However the champion made a terrific comeback in the fourth and won it 6-2. he then wrapped up the final set by 6-3 and match by 3-2.

Meanwhile, David Ferrer, the unsung hero of tennis has also made it to the quarter-finals of French Open as he registered a thumping victory over South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. He will now be facing Tommy Robredo in the quarters