World No. 1 Andy Murray overcame an offensive assault from Juan Martin del Potro to book his spot in the Round of 16 at Roland Garros on Saturday. Murray secured his place in the second week with a 7-6(8), 7-5, 6-0 victory, prevailing after a tense two hours and 53 minutes. He spoiled del Potro's 100th Grand Slam match, firing 44 winners and converting six of 17 break chances. Last year's runner-up Murray is into the fourth round for the eighth time in 10 appearances on the Parisian clay. The Scot avoided a third consecutive four-set affair to open the tournament, but was still made to work against the former World No. 4 del Potro. "It was definitely [my best...
Seventh seed Marin Cilic surged into the Roland Garros fourth round on Saturday, dismissing Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 47 minutes. Cilic recorded his 100th tour-level clay-court win as he broke Lopez seven times, benefitting from 29 unforced errors off the Spaniard's racquet, while striking 31 winners of his own. "I played extremely well today," said Cilic. "And I would say the conditions were a little bit slower today than these other days. When we started the court was quite heavy, and I felt that suited me much more than Feliciano. "I was returning extremely well today. So that helped me to neutralise his big serve. And then off the ground I was playing really, really...
Second seed Novak Djokovic was a set away from losing his Roland Garros crown, but finished with a flourish against an inspired Diego Schwartzman on Friday to reach the fourth round with a 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory in three hours and 18 minutes. “Sometimes you need to be challenged in order for certain things to surface, which maybe are not surfacing if you're winning comfortably. That's going to happen more as I go deeper in the tournament because the matches and opponents are going to get tougher,” said Djokovic. “I didn't play too many five-setters the past couple of years. I see a lot of good things in it. I think it will put me in a good...
Top teams continue to bow out in doubles at Roland Garros as third seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, and fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, suffered surprising second-round upsets on Friday. The top four seeds have all been eliminated before the round of 16 and only five seeds remain in the draw. Sam Groth and Robert Lindstedt handed the Bryan brothers their earliest exit since 2010 with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win. The Bryans, making their 19th consecutive appearance, had reached at least the quarter-finals for 14 of the past 15 years. Groth/Lindstedt will next play Fernando Verdasco and Nenad Zimonjic, who defeated Julian Knowle and Florian Mayer 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. [ALSO LIKE] Fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo...
Second seed Novak Djokovic was a set away from losing his Roland Garros crown, but finished with a flourish against an inspired Diego Schwartzman on Friday to reach the fourth round with a 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory in three hours and 18 minutes. Djokovic improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Schwartzman to 2-0. He picked up his 58th match win (58-11) at Roland Garros, tieing Guillermo Vilas for third on the all-time list at this event. Making his 13th consecutive appearance at Roland Garros, Djokovic has not lost before the quarter-finals since 2009. He is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era – and only the third man in history – to win each...