Wawrinka beats Chardy to make last 16
| French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 22 May to 5 June |
| Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app. |
Stan Wawrinka continued his French Open defence with a comfortable 6-4 6-3 7-5 win over France’s Jeremy Chardy.
The Swiss third seed hit 36 winners and will face Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in the fourth round.
Richard Gasquet is the first Frenchman into the last 16, beating Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-2 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 to set up a meeting with Kei Nishikori.
In the women’s draw, 10th seed Petra Kvitova lost 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-0 to world number 108 Shelby Rogers.
Sixth seed Simona Halep was taken to three sets by 18-year-old Naomi Osaka, but Garbine Muguruza made more straightforward progress.
The Spaniard, who has hired coach Sam Sumyk since her run to the Wimbledon final last year, dispatched Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 6-3 6-0 in 63 minutes.
Day of the underdogs
Rogers admitted that the emotion of the moment got the better of her in the immediate aftermath of the victory over two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova that took her into the fourth round of a major tournament for the first time.
“I immediately started crying,” said the 23-year-old American. “It was an incredible moment, but it’s definitely a little blurry.”
World number 101 Naomi Osaka had to be content with an improvement on the 6-1 6-1 defeat by Victoria Azarenka that she suffered at this year’s Australian Open – her only other appearance in a Grand Slam third round.
“I played one of the best players in the world and I managed to worry her for a second there,” she said after her 4-6 6-2 6-3 loss to Halep.
Rally of the day
No doubt about this one.
Agnieszka Radwanska and Barbora Strycova shared an extraordinary point, in which both played shots from sitting positions before Czech Stycova finally found a winner to bring the crowd to their feet on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Second seed Radwanska lost that battle but emerged victorious, prevailing 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 6-2.
Away from Paris
As Rafael Nadal withdrew from the tournament with a wrist injury, Roger Federer posted an image on Twitter showing his own comeback.
The 34-year-old Swiss, who won at Roland Garros in 2009, is absent from a Grand Slam event for the first time this century after opting to rest a back injury.
Quarter-final debutant assured
The withdrawal of nine-time champion Nadal means that at least one of the quarter-finalists in the men’s draw will be in the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time in their careers.
Fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers was the direct beneficiary of Nadal’s withdrawal, advancing to a fourth-round meeting with either Austrian 13th seed Dominic Thiem or Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who at 19 is the youngest player in the world’s top 50.
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