By Nick Georgandis

(June 24, 2010) While Wimbledon officials were dubbing Nicholas Mahut a “French hero” following his epic five-set loss to John Isner, his countrymen were quietly making their way into the third round.
France has six players through, with a seventh – Paul-Henri Mathieu – attempting to join the soiree. Mathieu takes on 13th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny early Friday.
While his fifth set didn’t go 138 games, 10th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga survived a marathon of his own Thursday. Tsonga, who bears an uncanny resemblance to boxing legend Muhammad Ali, was nearly stung by the bee known as Alexandr Dolgopolov, hanging on for a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 5-7, 10-8 victory.



Unseeded in the draw, the 21-year-old Ukrainian is ranked 43rd in the world and made the third round of the French Open. Ranked 10th in the world, Tsonga reached the finals of the 2008 Australian Open. He will face German Tobias Kanke.
Tsonga is one of four seeded French players still in the mix. The most intriguing third-round match-up features 21st-seeded Gael Monfils against Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, the 15th seed.
The 23-year-old Monfils actually holds the higher world rank (20th to Hewitt’s 29th), but the Aussie enjoys the overwhelming experience edge, with 28 career titles against Monfils’ two. Monfils has a slim 2-1 head-to-head advantage against Hewitt.



Arnaud Clement will have plenty of eyes on his match Friday when he takes on No.1-ranked Roger Federer at Centre Court. Clement is 3-7 lifetime against the men’s top dog, and has two four-set victories thus far at Wimbledon.
Federer has appeared mortal from Day One, and might be ripe for an upset. The match will be the third of the day at Centre Court, immediately following Monfils/Hewitt.
Another top third-round draw will pit France’s Giles Simon, seeded 26th, against fourth-seeded Andy Murray, the lone British man still alive in the field. Murray has beaten Simon three times in four meetings. Simon advanced to the third round via walkover on Thursday.



Thirty-second seed Julien Benneteau has needed the full 10 sets to reach the third round. He’ll face Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
While his matchup doesn’t compare to the luster of Clement’s against Federer, Jeremy Chardy can make a name for himself if he should upset ninth-seeded David Ferrer, his opponent in the third round.
Chardy is just 1-3 lifetime against Ferrer, but his lone win came on the hard surface last year in South Africa.