Tsonga blasts Portuguese in 90 minutes

Former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Portugal's Frederico Gil today.

Former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Portugal's Frederico Gil on Saturday.

The French sixth seed took only 1hr 31 min to blast out a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 win over the 107th-ranked Gil, who was the first Portuguese man to reach the third round at a grand slam.

Tsonga, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2008 Melbourne final, will play either compatriot Julien Benneteau or Japan's 24th seed Kei Nishikori in the round of 16 on Monday.

The athletic Frenchman, who performed his trademark victory jig on court after his win, broke Gil's serve six times and fought off six break points against his own service.

"Today I played well, I felt good on the court. For much of the match I played better and I hope it will continue and I can go far in this tournament," Tsonga said.

Tsonga is unbeaten in eight matches this season after winning his eighth ATP singles title in Doha on the way to Australia.