Roger Federer ousted

A French Open quarter-final line-up without Roger Federer will seem like a boulangerie without baguettes, but the crumbs are rapidly becoming a staple diet for the former world No 1.

Federer’s 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 defeat by Ernests Gulbis in the fourth round here on Sunday means he will not be in the last eight at Roland Garros for the first time since 2004.

Until his defeat in the second round at Wimbledon last summer Federer had reached the quarter-finals at 36 Grand Slam tournaments in succession, but he has now failed to make the last eight at three of the last four.

This was his first appearance in the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament since he reached the quarter-finals here six years ago.

Gulbis, who now meets the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych, admitted he had been lucky to win the second set after Federer wasted two set points, one of them with a careless overhead.

Off the court Gulbis has always been good value and his press conference after the biggest win of his career was no exception.

Asked why he had generally kept his emotions in check, Gulbis said: “For sure, I’m going to behave better here than I would behave when it’s 10 people watching.

Novak Djokovic has replaced Federer as the most consistent performer in the men’s game and the Serbian world No 2 reached his 20th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final by defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-4, 6-1.

His 10th successive victory over the Frenchman earned a quarter-final meeting with the Canadian Milos Raonic, who beat Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

The 27-year-old Russian, who completed her Grand Slam collection when she won the title here two years ago, has now beaten the 2010 French Open runner-up 14 times in their 16 meetings.