Murray, del Potro set for top duel
Nishikori faces Chung in all-Asia tussle; Svitolina, Radwanska advance
Paris, June 1: Juan Martin del Potro set up a French Open blockbuster against Andy Murray on Thursday after a heartfelt display of compassion towards a stricken rival.
The giant Argentine, no stranger to injury after a careerlong battle with wrist problems, made the third round after Spanish opponent Nicolas Almagro quit in tears during the third set of their tie with a left knee injury.
World number one Andy Murray reached the third round with a bruising 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) win over Martin Klizan of Slovakia.
Murray will face del Potro for a place in the last 16.
In a moving conclusion on Court Two, Del Potro sat next to a sobbing Almagro, offering him water while patting the head of the inconsolable 31-year-old.
del Potro had also gone to the Spaniard’’s aid when he had collapsed at the back of the court, weeping, just moments earlier.
“I tried to find good words for him at that moment. I say to him, try to be calm. Try to think about his family, his baby. Sometimes the heart is first more than the tennis match,” said del Potro.
del Potro, 28, had taken the first set of the second round clash 6-3 before Almagro claimed the next by the same score.
They were locked at 1-1 in the third when Almagro quit.
del Potro, playing in Paris for the first time in five years after battling a series of wrist injuries, also suffered an injury scare himself when he pulled up, holding his left leg in the second set.
Third seed Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, reached the last 32 for the 10th time with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 win over Ukraine’s Alexandr Dolgopolov and will face Italy’s Fabio Fognini for a place in the fourth round.
Japanese eighth seed Kei Nishikori routed France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 (7/5).
The world number nine will face South Korean Hyeon Chung for a place in the last 16.
Chung, the 21-year-old world number 67, followed up his first round win over US 27th seed Sam Querrey with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-1 victory against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Former US Open champion Marin Cilic, the seventh seed, cruised to a comfortable 6-3, 6-2, 62 win over 32-year-old Konstantin Kravchuk, the Russian world number 129 making his Paris bow.
Unseeded 21-year-old Karen
Khachanov of Russia continued his impressive debut, beating Czech 13th seed Tomas Berdych, a semi-finalist seven years ago, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
Fifth seed Elina Svitolina made the third round by beating Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova 36, 6-3, 6-2. Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded nine, saw off Belgian qualifier Alison Van Uytvanck 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-3. Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski won 6-0, 6-1 over Australia’s Jessica Moore and Matt Reid in the opening match.