Australian Davis Cup slayer Florian Mayer has come crashing back to earth with a straight-sets exit from the ATP event in Metz, France.

Fifth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi ousted Mayer 7-5 6-2, winning 97 per cent of points behind his first serve and breaking the German twice in each set.

Mayer last weekend crushed Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic each in straight sets to cruel Australia’s Australia’s chances of promotion to next year’s Davis Cup World Group.

Defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame a slow start to beat Jesse Levine 6-3 6-4 in his quarter-final.

“I had to be fully focused because Jesse was in good shape,” Tsonga said. “I’m happy with how I played and happy to reach the semi-finals, even though I’m still making a few mistakes.”

Levine’s resistance started to crumble after that and Tsonga broke him for a second time before wrapping up the first set with an ace.

The Frenchman then hit five aces in a comfortable second set where he faced no break points.

He faces eighth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the last four on Saturday after the Russian beat Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-0.

Tsonga is looking for his second title of the year after winning in Doha in January, where he beat Gael Monfils in the final.

He is eighth overall in the race to determine the eight players who will qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Tsonga could potentially face Monfils again in another final on Sunday.

Monfils had earlier beaten second-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4 to reach his first semi-final since February.

Making his return at the indoor tournament in Metz after several months out with a knee injury, Monfils broke Kohlschreiber for the sixth time in the match before clinching victory on serve.

“I’m feeling the strain, but I want to rise above the tiredness and the pain,” Monfils said. “I’m surprising myself. I didn’t expect to hold out for this long, but the Adrenalin helps.”