The French fourth seed, in action on his 27th birthday, celebrated the occasion with an impressive 6-2 6-4 victory, setting up a last 16 meeting with Fernando Verdasco in the process.

For the second day running, Spaniard Verdasco rallied from a set down before prevailing 3-6 6-3 6-1 against Croatia's Ivan Dodig.

Tsonga will now attempt to progress past round three for the first time in three visits to the Monte Carlo Country Club.

Monaco retirement

Argentine Juan Monaco's fine run of good form ended abruptly after he was forced to retire with a sprained ankle.

The 11th seed, who triumphed at the US Claycourt Championships on Sunday, collapsed to the ground after he rolled his ankle while chasing down a Robin Haase shot at full stretch.

Monaco tried to continue after taking an injury time out to strap his ankle but quit while leading the first-round match 5-7 6-0 3-2.

Also in first-round action on Tuesday, Italian veteran Andreas Seppi's reward for a 6-3 6-1 win against Victor Hanescu is to play world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the second round on Wednesday, when Rafael Nadal is up against Jarkko Nieminen.

Stanislas Wawrinka defeated 10th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-1 6-4 and Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan also reached the second round after beating 14th-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany 3-6 6-1 6-3.

Italy's Fabio Fognini beat Michael Llodra of France 7-5 6-3, Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci overcame Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4 6-4 and Filippo Volandri won 7-5 6-3 against Alessandro Giannessi in an all-Italian match.

And in the final game of the day, Croat Marin Cilic saw off Italy's Simone Bolelli 6-3 6-4.