NEW YORK, Sept. 5 -- Eleventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rallied to beat Mardy Fish, the eighth-seeded American 6-4, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday, reaching US Open quarterfinals for the first time.
Fish was trying to make it past the fourth round of US Open for the second time. But his leg seemed to suffer from cramping and his play dipped in the fourth set, he was treated by a trainer for a right leg problem before the fifth.
Fish complained about the wind in the match. "The ball's not exactly where you want it to be. It's not going to be a clean match at all," said the highest ranked American.
Fish denied the right thigh trouble caused his defeat. "I was unusually cold and you know old age. I guess, my body didn't check up like I had hoped," said the 29-year-old veteran.
"Look, that's not why I lost. But it would have been nice to be able to run withouth pain."
The 11th-seeded Frenchman recorded best Grand Slam showing of reaching the final in the 2008 Australian Open.
"I was mentally strong. A few years ago it was tough for me to play in this condition, but today I was really, really strong in my head," said Tsonga.
He also made it to the Wimbledon semifinals this year by rallying to beat Roger Federer after dropping the first two sets.
"Any way for me to beat Mardy (Fish) here, you know, of course it's special because this is the first time I will join the quarterfinal here. For me, it's like beat Federer somewhere or Nadal," added Tsonga.
Tsonga would probably face Federer again in the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.
The Swiss will play his fourth round match against Juan Monaco of Argentine in a later session.