While Murray cruised through his quarter-final against unseeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday, Federer's clash with seventh seed Tsonga - coached by Australia's Roger Rasheed - couldn't have been much tighter.
Federer had not lost a set or even a service game previously in the tournament.
But Tsonga's mix of big serves, big shots, delicate touch at the net and court speed troubled the Swiss enormously as he dropped serve five times for the match.
In the second and fourth sets that proved decisive but in the first and third Federer's poise in the tiebreakers was invaluable.
In the first-set tiebreaker an over-rule fault call on Tsonga's first serve of the game proved critical as Tsonga lost that point, giving Federer an advantage which he maintained throughout.
In the third-set breaker, Federer produced an exquisite down-the-line backhand to grab a mini-break and 6-4 lead, then clinched it on his first set point.
Tsonga, who became the first man to beat Federer from two sets to love down in a grand slam match in the 2011 Wimbledon quarter-finals, refused to buckle or temper his aggressive game.
He roared through the fourth set, breaking Federer's serve twice.
A crucial unforced error on break point in the fourth game of the fifth set proved costly.
But Tsonga fought to the end, saving four match points on his own serve at 2-5, the third of those with a spectacular lunging volley, forcing Federer to serve it out.
Federer said it was tough to close the match out, but that was typical of the entire clash.
"The whole match was tough. Any set could have gone either way,'' he said.
"You never know what Jo's going to come up with.
"It was a pleasure to come through.
"I felt like I played some great tennis but Jo played great tennis too.''
He said playing Murray would be "extremely tough''.
- AAP
