Canadians Raonic, Nestor, Bouchard knocked out of French Open tennis tournament
South African ousts Raonic in third round
PARIS — Canada’s Milos Raonic dropped a 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 decision to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson in third-round men’s singles play at the French Open on Friday.
Raonic, the No. 14 seed from Thornhill, Ont., had his serve broken three times.
“I wish I could have played better,” Raonic said. “He was taking advantage of my second serve, I wish I could have done more on his. I don’t think I served too great.
“I lacked execution and struggled with being up a break in the third set. I didn’t play well and a big part of that was down to him. He made me feel uncomfortable.”
The hard-serving Canadian also lost in the third round at Roland Garros last year.
“I would have hoped that I would be playing better on clay now,” he said. “I’m frustrated with myself.”
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and Daniel Nestor also suffered defeats Friday.
The No. 77-ranked Bouchard, from Montreal, was dispatched by defending champion Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-4 in a second-round match that was completed Friday due to rain a day earlier.
Nestor, from Toronto, and new partner Robert Lindstedt of Sweden lost their second-round match. Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy and Florent Serra of France advanced with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory.
It was Nestor’s worst result at Roland Garros since he was ousted in the second round in 2006.
Bouchard, meanwhile, trailed by a set and a break when the match was halted Thursday night by rain. The 19-yearold put up a stubborn defence Friday before falling on a first match point as her forehand sailed over the baseline.
“It was a good experience, to play one of the best in the world,” Bouchard said. “I saw her game, her shots.
“She kept me on my heels a lot. I tried to counter that and was able to play my best game at some stages.”
Bouchard, who made her first WTA semifinal last weekend in Strasbourg, converted only one of six break chances and committed 22 unforced errors. Sharapova also won their only previous meeting in March in Miami.
“I did better than Miami, it was more competitive this time,” Bouchard said. “I wasn’t quite as blown off the court as in Miami. “It was an improvement. I was excited and motivated and was really looking forward to the match.”
The third-seeded Nestor and Lindstedt lost in 75 minutes to snap Nestor’s 19-match win streak in Paris.
Nestor had claimed the French Open title the previous three years — with Nenad Zimonjic in 2010 and Max Mirnyi in 2011 and 2012 — and owns four trophies overall.
“Nothing went right for us.” said Nestor. “The best comparison is to a boxing match, where you get pounded early.
“They came out swinging and we were on our heels the whole time.”
The loss was the first in Paris for the 40-year-old Canadian since he and Zimonjic were beaten in the 2009 semifinals by Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes.
“They didn’t do anything to surprise us, we weren’t making shots,” Nestor said. “In the first game they hit four winners to break and that set the tone.
“They were hitting big shots and we were just hanging on. When we needed to make shots, we didn’t.”
Nestor admitted it was tough to lose in Paris, saying “It was a good run.”
Nestor is still entered in mixed doubles with France’s Kristina Mladenovic.
In other action Friday, Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open women’s champion, reached the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Virginie Razzano, the Frenchwoman who stunned Serena Williams in the first round last year.
Williams, seeking her first French Open title since 2002, extended her career-best winning streak to 27 matches by defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-2 and has lost only six games through three rounds.
Two other past champions advanced: 2009’s Svetlana Kuznetsova and 2010s Francesca Schiavone,
Roger Federer, whose record 17 Grand Slam titles include the 2009 French Open, lost serve in the first game but not again, getting to the fourth round by eliminating No. 30 Julien Benneteau of France 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.
“I’m able to play quite aggressive at the moment,” said Federer.
He now faces No. 15 Gilles Simon of France, who came back to beat No. 18 Sam Querrey of the United States 2-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2. That left No. 19 John Isner as the last U.S. man in the tournament after his 5-7, 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-1, 8-6 win against Ryan Harrison. Rafael Nadal beat Martin Klizan of Slovakia 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3