Federer advances with ease
No. 2 seed reaches fourth round for 11th straight year.
PARIS — Stepping onto center court to take on 88th-ranked Damir Dzumhur, Roger Federer was on his guard.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion had been caught cold at a previous French Open by a player ranked as low as the 23-year-old Bosnian, and he made sure that did not happen again. Federer advanced to the fourth round for the 11th straight year with a clinical 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 win Friday.
“I’d never played him before, he moves well, he’s very quick. I didn’t know him and I didn’t know how he’d play on the key points,” said Federer, who lost in the first round in Paris to the 88th-ranked Luis Horna 12 years ago.
“Mentally I’m not always as relaxed as people might think, there is so much at stake,” Federer said.
The 33-year-old Federer, who is seeded second at the tournament, won his only French Open title in 2009 when he completed his career Grand Slam.
After winning his first two matches in straight sets, Federer put on another aggressive and solid display, winning 24 points at the net and saving four of the five break points he faced.
“Once I got the rhythm it got better and better, and I was able to play more freely and mix up the game,” Federer said.
The Swiss hit a superb forehand passing shot to earn a match point and sealed it when Dzumhur sent a backhand into the net. Federer will next be up against either 13th-seeded Gael Monfils or No. 21 seed Pablo Cuevas.
On a good day for the favorites, fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych overcame a tough start to beat Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 and defending champion Maria Sharapova produced a convincing 6-3, 6-4 win over former finalist Samantha Stosur. After struggling in her first t wo matches at the French Open, Ana Ivanovic eased past Donna Vekic 6-0, 6-3 to book a spot in the second week.
In men’s play, Federer’s Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka and No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France both advanced in straight sets.
It was Sharapova’s first serious test this year, and she passed it with ease, in a sharp contrast to her previous match with Stosur in Paris last year, when she trailed 6-3, 4-3 before turning it around.
Up next for the second-seeded Sharapova is another tricky match against No. 13 seed Lucie Safarova. Sharapova has won four of their five matches, but their last three went to three sets.
It took Ivanovic just 53 minutes to return to a fourth round at a major tournament for the first time in more than a year.
Ivanovic, who won the French Open in 2008 after losing in the final a year before, wrapped up the first set in 23 minutes and finished with 19 winners.
The last time Ivanovic made the fourth round of a major was at the Australian Open in 2014. She was eliminated by 142ndranked Lucie Hradecka in Melbourne earlier this year after playing with a broken toe.
Since winning the title seven years ago, Ivanovic has never progressed past the fourth round in Roland Garros. Her next opponent on the Parisian red clay will be No. 9 seed Ekaterina Makarova, who defeated Elena Vesnina 6-2, 6-4.