Nadal drops 1 game in 3rd round win

Rafael Nadal dropped just one game on his way to a straight-sets victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili.

It was Nadal's 100th best-of-fivesets match on clay. He has a 98-2 win-loss record.

With the rainclouds rolling in, Nadal seemed keen to get his third-round match over as quickly as possible and the No. 4 seed took 90 minutes to win 6-0, 6-1, 6-0.

‘I don't know if it was perfection,’ said Nadal, who turns 31 on Saturday.

‘I went on court thinking it was going to be a tough match ... I believe I played the best match since a while.’

Fifth-seeded Milos Raonic advanced to the fourth round of the French Open when opponent Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired from the match with a left thigh injury.

Raonic was leading 6-1, 1-0 when Garcia-Lopez stopped. The Spaniard had already received treatment at the end of the first set.

It was the second retirement of the day. David Goffin was forced out with an injured right ankle.

Defending champion Garbine Muguruza advanced to the fourth round of the French Open by beating Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 6-2.

The fourth-seeded Spaniard broke her opponent's serve three times in the second set.

Muguruza will next face either Shelby Rogers of the United States or 13th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France.

David Goffin retired from his third-round match at the French Open after injuring his right ankle against Horacio Zeballos.

The 10th-seeded Belgian was leading 5-4 in the first set when he limped off court with two trainers helping him. Zeballos carried Goffin's bag.

Goffin was serving for the first set and led 40-0 but allowed Zeballos back into the game.

The Argentine had a break back point and, at the end of a long rally, Goffin got to a tough ball. He won the point to get back to deuce but slid after he hit it, catching his foot on the tarp at the back of the court.

Steve Johnson, still grieving the recent death of his father, lost to sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the third round of the French Open.

The 25th-seeded American had burst into tears after his secondround victory over Borna Coric yesterday.

There was no such display of emotion after he lost to Thiem, who spoke to Johnson at the net and gave him a consoling hug.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic reached the fourth round of the French Open after rallying to beat Diego Schwartzman 5-7, 63, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Djokovic sealed victory on his first match point with a forehand winner down the line, completing the win in 3 hours, 19 minutes.

The second-seeded Serb gave Schwartzman a hug and a part on the head at the net — and then joined in the applause as the Argentine player walked off Court Philippe Chatrier.

‘I was expecting a difficult game with a lot of rallies from the baseline, because the conditions are heavy,’ Djokovic said moments after his win.

‘I want to congratulate Diego for a great battle, because he played very well.’

Schwartzman needed some treatment to his back late in the fifth set.

Novak Djokovic has pushed his tighter-than-expected match in the French Open third round to a fifth set.

Djokovic trailed by two sets to one against Diego Schwartzman at Court Philippe Chatrier before taking the fourth 6-1.

It wasn't all easy for the No. 2 seed. Serving at 4-0, Djokovic was given a second time violation and so lost his first serve.

The clearly rattled defending champion was muttering away to himself shortly afterwards, having netted a backhand to give Schwartzman a break point.

Djokovic was then given a code violation and began to argue with the umpire.

‘What's wrong with you? What did I say? Did I hit the ball towards you?’ Djokovic questioned.

After being told it was because of his poor attitude, he added: ‘What attitude? What attitude?’

Defending champion Novak Djokovic lost the opening set of his third-round match against Diego Schwartzman.