Roger Federer lost Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the French Open, falling to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion was eliminated before the semifinals for the second time in past three major events, but only the fifth time in the past nine years at a Grand Slam tournament. Tsonga was responsible for two of the losses — he also beat Federer in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2011.

Tsonga was runner-up to Novak Djokovic at the 2008 Australian Open, his best Grand Slam result. He earned his first berth in the Roland Garros semifinals as he tries to become the first Frenchman to win the tournament since Yannick Noah in 1983.

Sara Errani of Italy showed her surprising run at the French Open last year was no fluke as she beat fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 7-6 (6) Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam tournament in Paris.

Errani rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the second set to break for a 5-4 lead but then failed to serve out the match. However, the 2012 runner-up did not falter in the tiebreaker, converting her second match point when Radwanska hit a backhand wide.

The fifth-seeded Errani will next face either No. 1 Serena Williams of the United States or Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.

Radwanska was the first Polish woman to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in the Open era, which started in 1968.

Serena Williams came from behind in the third set Tuesday and advanced to the French Open semifinals for the first time since 2003 when she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Williams had been beaten the last four times she reached the French Open quarterfinals, most recently in 2010. The 15-time Grand Slam champion, who is ranked No. 1, won her only Roland Garros title in 2002.

Against Kuznetsova, Williams overcame an inconsistent serve, erratic groundstrokes and a 2-love deficit in the final set, winning five consecutive games and then closing the victory with a forehand winner and a scream.

"Yes!" she hollered.

It was the first real test of the tournament for Williams, who lost 10 games after losing a total of 10 games in her four earlier matches. She extended her career-best winning streak to 29 consecutive matches.

In a post-match on-court interview, Williams seemed spent.

"I'm very happy to have won this quarterfinal because the whole night I was afraid of my quarterfinal match," she told the crowd in French. "It was a very tough match today, but it's good for me because, I don't know, but it's very good. I am exhausted."