Roger Federer has survived a scare from Gilles Simon to book his place in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.

The Frenchman was 2-1 up in sets before the world number three came back to win 6-1 4-6 2-6 6-2 6-3, setting up a clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in the semi-finals of the French Open.

Federer blitzed the first set 6-1 in 37 minutes, but Simon needed just one break point to take the second to level the score at 1-1.

Simon was playing the match of his life, taking just 28 minutes to wrap up the third set 6-2 and get his nose in front.

However, Federer began to get his game together when he really needed to, flashing 14 winners on his way to forcing a deciding set.

Simon put up a stubborn resistance, but he was powerless to stop the Swiss maestro from sealing his passage into the next round.