Dominant Nadal marches into final 16
PARIS: Defending champion Rafa Nadal’s booming forehand proved too good for Frenchman Richard Gasquet as the Spaniard recorded a comfortable 63, 62, 62 victory over his old friend at the French Open yesterday.
Nadal extended his run of consecutive set wins at Roland Garros to 34. Only Sweden’s sixtime champion Bjorn Borg, who won 41 consecutive sets on the Paris clay in 197981, has recorded a longer streak at the tournament.
Nadal said he was pleased with the improving court conditions at Roland Garros, having earlier complained about the surface being slippery during his firstround victory.
‘‘I think the courts are improving — that’s my feeling,’’ Nadal, who wrapped up a straightsets win over Richard Gasquet in the third round, said.
Next up for Nadal is German youngster Maximilian Marterer, who will make his first roundof16 appearance after overcoming Estonian Juergen Zopp 62, 61, 64.
Ninth seed American John Isner reached the fourth round to match his best performance in Paris, beating local hope PierreHugues Herbert 76 (71), 64, 76 (74).
Fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro reached the second week in Paris for the first time since 2012, defeating claycourt specialist Albert RamosVinolas 75, 64, 61 while third seed Marin Cilic struck 35 winners on his way to a 63, 62, 64 win over American Steve Johnson.
Italian Fabio Fognini showed his incredible powers of recovery to edge 16thseeded British No 1 Kyle Edmund 63, 46, 36, 64, 64 in a brutal 31⁄2 hour contest.
In the women’s draw, former world No 1 Serena Williams delivered a commanding thirdround performance to defeat German Julia Goerges 63, 64.
Williams, playing her first grand slam following a maternity break, broke Goerges’ serve three times to secure the victory in an one hour and 15 minutes.
‘‘Today, I was very solid,’’ Williams said after the match. ‘‘Goerges is a very difficult opponent. But I don’t know — I go, I play, and I win.’’
The 23time grand slam winner will next face Russian Sharapova, who recorded a comfortable 62, 61 win over sixthseeded Karolina Pliskova.
World No 1 Simona Halep booked her place in the second week of the tournament with a 75, 60 win over German Andrea Petkovic, who was struggling with a knee injury.
Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza struck 15 winners on her way to a 60, 62 victory over Australian Samantha Stosur.
French No 1 Caroline Garcia booked a place in the last 16 for a second consecutive year, beating Romanian IrinaCamelia Begu 61, 63.
Belgian Elise Mertens, who reached the Australian Open semifinals earlier this year, produced a sublime display to beat 24th seed Daria Gavrilova 63, 61 in 62 minutes.
Two time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova committed 56 unforced errors as the Czech No 8 seed lost 76 (86), 76 (74), to 25thseeded Estonian Anett Kontaveit. — Reuters