Nadal sets up ‘special match’ against his childhood pal Gasquet
World No 1 breezes past Pella while Sharapova, Halep and Muguruza progress in the women’s draw
Ten-time champion Rafael Nadal breezed into the French Open third round and a clash against childhood friend Richard Gasquet yesterday.
Top seed and world No 1 Nadal, chasing an 11th title, swept past Argentina’s Guido Pella 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, showing no signs of the brief struggles he faced in the first round against lucky loser Simone Bolelli.
Nadal, 31, will next face home favourite, and his old junior rival Gasquet, whom he has beaten 15 times from as many meetings.
“Richard is a very good friend. We’ve known each other since we were 11 or 12 years old so it will be very special to play again against him on such an important court [Philippe Chatrier] for my career,” Nadal said.
Sharapova, the champion in Paris in 2012 and 2014, saw off Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4 in a tie which featured 10 breaks of serve and was secured on a fifth match point.
Former world No 1 Sharapova, seeded 28, will face Czech sixth seed Karolina Pliskova for a place in the fourth round. “She’s playing great,” Sharapova told Eurosport Russia of Pliskova, a player she defeated in their only previous meeting in the 2015 Fed Cup final.
“She won a big title in Stuttgart, so I have to be ready for this match and I’ll be ready.”
Sharapova is playing Roland Garros for the first time since 2015. The 31-year-old Russian served a doping ban in 2016 and was refused a wildcard by Roland Garros organisers last year.
Top seed Simona Halep reached the third round with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over Taylor Townsend of the United States. Halep, twice a runner-up in Paris, will face Germany’s Andrea Petkovic for a place in the last 16. Petkovic was a semi-finalist in 2014 and was once ranked in the top 10 but has slipped to 107 after an injury blighted few seasons.
Petkovic is hoping she will be able to tap into her deepest thoughts to end a seven-match losing streak against the top seeded Romanian.
“I’m 30 now, which is very old for tennis but very young for life. So I feel like my experience helps me to point my thoughts in the right direction a little bit better,” said Petkovic.
“On the court itself, it’s better to have as little thoughts as possible and try to be in the moment and sort of find the Zenlike state of mind. I think that’s the best for on court.”
Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 champion, was too strong for France’s No 257 Fiona Ferro 6-4, 6-3.
Title challengers Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem struggled into the last 32. Third seed Cilic reached the third round for the eighth time with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 win over Polish qualifier and world No 188 Hubert Hurkacz.
Former US Open champion Cilic, who reached the quarter-finals last year, will face Steve Johnson of the United States. However, it was a roller-coaster of a performance by newly wed Cilic who cracked 48 winners but also 52 unforced errors.
He also squandered a match point in the third set.
“I was in control but played a poor third set so I had to start all over again,” said 29-year-old Cilic after his 20th match win of the season.
Seventh seeded Thiem, a semi-finalist in 2016 and 2017, racked up his 31st win of the year. The Austrian, the only man to beat Nadal on clay this year, saw off Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a match which had been suspended overnight after the third set.
Juan Martin Del Potro, who beat Julien Benneteau 6-4 6-3 6-2 in the local favourite’s final match at Roland Garros.
Del Potro ended American Andy Roddick’s career at the 2012 US Open and that of Russian Marat Safin in the Paris Masters in 2009.
The Argentine served well and played neatly throughout to subdue Benneteau, who achieved his best result at a grand slam when he reached the French Open quarter-finals in 2006.
Fifth seed Del Potro, playing in the tournament for the first time since 2012, next faces Spanish 31st seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.