MELBOURNE, Australia(AP) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finally had to go the distance.
The Frenchman has played in 11 Grand Slam tournaments, including a run to the 2008 Australian Open final, but never experienced a five-set match until Monday.
Tsonga said last week he was hoping to avoid the challenge. After beating Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (6), 9-7, he said it wasn't as bad as he'd feared.
It was good. Good to win in five sets, first time for me,'' he said.When you win your first five-set match you're happy.''
The 10th-seeded Tsonga stumbled after winning the first two sets and had to save two break points late in the fifth, but held on to finally break Almagro.
The men play five-set matches at the four Grand Slam tournaments and in Davis Cup, and primarily three sets at the other tour events.
The 24-year-old Tsonga, who reached a career-high No. 6 ranking in 2008, gained a quarterfinal matchup with Novak Djokovic, the Serbian who beat him in the final here two years ago.
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SERENA PICKS COLTS: Serena Williams, a part-owner of the Miami Dolphins, is picking the Indianapolis Colts to win the Super Bowl.
Well, actually, one player on the Colts.
``I'm going for Peyton. I know him, so I'm definitely going for Peyton Manning,'' she said Monday.
But her second choice would have been the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre, whom she compared herself with after playing with a sore leg Monday and advancing to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
Favre played with a hurt leg through the last two quarters of Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints. His team lost in overtime, and the Saints are headed to the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.
I think it's all about adrenaline out there,'' Williams said of playing through pain.When I step on the court I feel great. Sometimes before there I am struggling. I felt a little bit like Brett Favre today. He's such a champion, so I'm like, 'Hmm, I got to be like this guy.'''
Williams, who has had her right leg heavily taped during recent matches, said she is unlikely to play in the first round of the Fed Cup because of the commitments she and sister Venus have as part-owners of the Dolphins.
``I really want to, but ... since I do own a football team, we have some owner's stuff that we have to do for Super Bowl,'' Williams said.
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SICK LEAVE: A record half million Australians skipped work on Monday - known colloquially as ``chucking a sickie'' - in order to give themselves a four-day weekend with their national day falling on Tuesday.
Revved-up Australians clad in yellow filled the arena with flags, unique cheers and high hopes for the fourth-round matches. One particularly vocal group alternated between singing Australia's unofficial anthem, Waltzing Matilda,'' andWalking in a Hewitt Wonderland.''
But Samantha Stosur was beaten 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour by No. 1 Serena Williams, and Lleyton Hewitt followed right afterward with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 loss to No. 1 Roger Federer.
Federer said he didn't mind when the crowd cheered for his opponent.
``I'm used to playing in tough conditions around the world,'' Federer said.
The Swiss is usually a crowd favorite in Melbourne, where he has won three of his record 15 Grand Slam singles titles.
Earlier in the day, the Australian husband-and-wife mixed doubles team of Jarmila and Samuel Groth lost their opening match, to Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Brazilian Marcelo Melo.
Absence-management firm Direct Health Solutions estimated on Monday that employee attendance across the country was down about 33 percent compared with a normal Monday, with about 500,000 people absent, reportedly the biggest number ever not to show up.