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Zverev Wins In Straight Sets For Only Second Time At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 30, 2019

Zverev Wins In Straight Sets For Only Second Time At Roland Garros

German to face Monte-Carlo finalist Lajovic in third round

For only the second time in 11 main draw matches at Roland Garros, Alexander Zverev recorded a straight sets triumph on Wednesday.

The fifth-seeded German will be relieved to have weathered a late comeback by Mikael Ymer of Sweden in a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(3) victory in just under two hours for a place in the third round for a third straight year.

Last year, Zverev came through three five-set clashes en route to his first Grand Slam championship quarter-final (l. to Thiem) and then beat Australia’s John Millman 7-6(4), 6-3, 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-3 in the 2019 first round on Tuesday. Read More & Watch Highlights

The 22-year-old struck 36 winners — including 12 aces — lost just 10 of his first-service points and won 20 of 27 points at the net. He was in complete control through to 5-3 in the third set against Ymer, was making his major championship debut this week, before the World No. 148 won three straight games. Zverev regrouped to win eight of the next 10 points to a 4/0 advantage in the tie-break.

Zverev will now face Serbian No. 30 seed Dusan Lajovic, who the German beat 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the 2018 Roland Garros second round. Lajovic, who has gone 3-4 since advancing to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final (l. to Fognini) on 21 April, knocked out French qualifier Elliot Benchetrit 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes.

Zverev is riding a six-match winning streak, which includes saving two match points against Nicolas Jarry in the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open final on Saturday for his 11th ATP Tour title.

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Top seed Osaka survives scare to beat Azarenka

  • Posted: May 30, 2019
2019 French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 26 May-9 June
Coverage: Live text and radio commentary on selected matches on the BBC Sport website and app.

World number one Naomi Osaka survived another early scare to reach the third round of the French Open.

Japan’s Osaka, 21, overcame a poor start to beat two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka 4-6 7-5 6-3.

Osaka is chasing her third successive Grand Slam title having won the 2018 US Open and the Australian Open earlier this year.

She will play the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova in the next round after she beat Greece’s Maria Sakkari.

“I was lucky enough to play her (Azarenka) twice before this and I knew she was playing really well,” said Osaka.

“It was unfortunate that this was a second-round match but I am happy I won.”

Asked if she is as calm on the inside as she looks on court, she added: “No. I choked on this side (at 5-1) and almost choked on the other side (at 5-3). I am very emotional.”

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  • Live scores, schedule and results

Osaka struggled in the early stages against world number 43 Azarenka, of Belarus, just as she did in the first round against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova when she failed to register a game.

She hit 15 unforced errors in the opening set on Lenglen court as Azarenka, 29, dominated to go 5-1 up.

From there, Osaka – who reached the third round at Roland Garros 12 months ago – started to find her rhythm, breaking Azarenka’s serve to move within one game of her opponent but Azarenka coolly served out the first set.

The second set proved a much closer affair, taking until the fifth game for a serve to be broken as Azarenka went 3-2 up. That came after Osaka had scuppered three break points in the fourth game.

Azarenka went on to go 4-2 up but Osaka was able to claw the set back, taking it 7-5 on her fourth set point.

Former world number one Azarenka took an 11-minute break before the deciding set commenced, but it proved little help as Osaka raced into a 5-1 lead, her performance a far cry from that of the first set.

Azarenka mounted her own comeback, winning the next two games, but Osaka was able to capitalise on her second match point to seal victory.

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Kyle Edmund retires from French Open second-round match against Pablo Cuevas

  • Posted: May 30, 2019

Kyle Edmund is out of the French Open after retiring during his second-round match against Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas.

The British number one, 24, trailed 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 2-1 when he called for the trainer.

It was not clear what the problem was for the 28th seed but, after a lengthy chat, Edmund shook his head and then the hand of Cuevas.

Edmund’s exit means Johanna Konta is the only Briton left in the singles at Roland Garros.

  • French Open latest scores, results & order of play
  • Relive live coverage of Edmund’s match

Edmund was bidding to reach the last 32 of the French Open for the third successive year, having ended a five-match losing streak on clay this year with a gutsy five-set win over France’s Jeremy Chardy in the opening round.

But the Yorkshireman never looked comfortable from the start against 33-year-old Cuevas, a clay-court specialist who has won all of his six ATP Tour singles titles on the surface.

After losing his opening service game of the match, Edmund fought back to level the first set at 4-4 before Cuevas ran away with the tie-break.

Cuevas caused problems with his dominant backhand as Edmund struggled to unload his favoured forehand, the Briton winning just four points on his way to losing the final four games of the second set.

That left Edmund needing to do something he had never done in his career – win from two sets down in a five-set match.

From this position he had lost 13 previous matches and another exit followed when he shook hands with world number 47 Cuevas.

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View Schedule: Djokovic, Thiem & Zverev Feature On Day 5 At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 30, 2019

View Schedule: Djokovic, Thiem & Zverev Feature On Day 5 At Roland Garros

Del Potro, Fognini also headline Thursday schedule

Top seed Novak Djokovic continues his quest for the “Nole Slam”, while fourth seed Dominic Thiem and fifth seed Alexander Zverev look to move closer to their first Grand Slam title on Day 5 at Roland Garros. Eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro also headlines Thursday action.

Djokovic heads to Court Philippe-Chatrier to face Swiss Henri Laaksonen, who is competing in the second round in Paris for the first time. The Serbian got off to a hot start this fortnight with a straight-sets victory over Pole Hubert Hurkacz. Djokovic lifted his 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title this month at the Mutua Madrid Open (d. Tsitsipas) and finished runner-up at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (l. to Nadal). Djokovic has never lost in the second round here (14-0) or before the quarter-finals since 2009.

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Thiem opens up play on Court Philippe-Chatrier against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik. The Austrian was made to work in his four-set opening-round win over American wild card Tommy Paul. His season includes a title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Medvedev) and his first Masters 1000 crown at the BNP Paribas Open (d. Federer). Bublik has won three ATP Challenger Tour titles this year.

Fifth seed Zverev takes on Swedish #NextGenATP qualifier Mikael Ymer, who won his maiden Grand Slam main draw match on Tuesday over Slovenian qualifier Blaz Rola. Zverev spent five sets and more than four hours on court in his first-round win on Tuesday over Aussie John Millman. The German has logged plenty of match time lately, saving two championship points to win his first title of the season last week at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open (d. Jarry).

Del Potro faces Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka. The eighth seed won their only FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting this February at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com. Del Potro, who defeated Chilean Nicolas Jarry in his opening round, is competing in only his fourth tournament this year due to a right knee injury. He’s shown solid form on clay by holding two match points in his quarter-final loss in Rome to Djokovic. Nishioka defeated American Mackenzie McDonald in five sets on Tuesday for his maiden win in Paris.

Other notable matches on Thursday include ninth-seeded Fabio Fognini of Italy taking on Argentine Federico Delbonis and No. 13 seed Borna Coric of Croatia going up against South African Lloyd Harris.

More On #RG19

* Djokovic, Chasing All Four Slams, Feels Extra Motivation
* After Rome Surprise, Del Potro Ready For Roland Garros
* For Lajovic, Business Is Good At Roland Garros

ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, 30 MAY 2019

Court Philippe-Chatrier start 11:00
[4] Dominic Thiem vs Alexander Bublik
Two WTA matches
[22] Lucas Pouille vs Martin Klizan

Court Suzanne Lenglen start 11:00
WTA match
[1] Novak Djokovic vs [LL] Henri Laaksonen
[14] Gael Monfils vs Adrian Mannarino
WTA match

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Court Simonne-Mathieu start 11:00
WTA match
[5] Alexander Zverev vs [Q] Mikael Ymer
[8] Juan Martin del Potro vs Yoshihito Nishioka
WTA match

Court No. 1 start 11:00
Two WTA matches
[23] Fernando Verdasco vs [WC] Antoine Hoang
[9] Fabio Fognini vs Federico Delbonis

Court No. 14 start 11:00
WTA match
[Q] Salvatore Caruso vs [26] Gilles Simon
WTA match
[10] Karen Khachanov vs [WC] Gregoire Barrere

Court No. 7 start 11:00
WTA match
[30] Dusan Lajovic vs [WC] Elliot Benchetrit
[13] Borna Coric vs Lloyd Harris

Court No. 6 start 11:00
[28] Kyle Edmund vs Pablo Cuevas
Leonardo Mayer vs [17] Diego Schwartzman TF 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-3
[13] Jurgen Melzer / Nicolas Mahut vs Marco Cecchinato / Andreas Seppi
WTA match
[18] Roberto Bautista Agut vs Taylor Fritz

Court No. 9 start 11:00
[14] Robin Haase / Frederik Nielsen vs Daniel Evans / Cameron Norrie

Court No. 10 start 11:00
Two WTA matches
[11] Rajeev Ram / Joe Salisbury vs Damir Dzumhur / Filip Krajinovic

Court No. 11 start 11:00
WTA match
[1] Lukasz Kubot / Marcelo Melo vs Marcus Daniell / Wesley Koolhof

Court No. 12 start 11:00
WTA match
[7] Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan vs Ken Skupski / Neal Skupski
Jan-Lennard Struff vs Radu Albot

Court No. 13 start 11:00
Two WTA matches
Ivo Karlovic vs Jordan Thompson

 

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Federer On Facing 20-Year-Old Ruud: I Know More About His Dad

  • Posted: May 29, 2019

Federer On Facing 20-Year-Old Ruud: I Know More About His Dad

Swiss to face #NextGenATP Ruud in third round

Roger Federer doesn’t know a lot about his third-round opponent, #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud. In fact, he might know more about Christian Ruud, Casper’s father and coach who ended his career at the 2001 Roland Garros, the eighth Slam Federer played.

“I know probably more about his dad than about him. Even though I never played him, the father,” Federer said. “I know that [Casper has] improved a lot in recent years, and I think he plays very well on the clay. Again, I haven’t seen him play a whole lot. But for any 20-year-old to be on the big stage, playing a top guy, on a centre court, that’s what you dream of.”

Federer coasted into the third round on Wednesday as he continued his Roland Garros return without dropping a set 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 against Germany’s Oscar Otte.

Infosys matchbeats

The third-seeded Swiss, making his first appearance in Roland Garros since 2015, won 75 per cent of his service points, including the same percentage on his second offering, and was never challenged against the 25-year-old German, No. 144 in the ATP Rankings. Federer saved all four break points faced.

I must say I feel really good, considering I haven’t played here in that long. Especially if I think back a few weeks and months ago before Madrid, didn’t know how successful I was going to play or how I was going to feel on the clay,” said Federer, who played in Madrid and Rome before Roland Garros.

The clay-court season has been, it’s been busy, and it’s nice this way. So I hope I can keep it up. Next round is definitely going to be tougher.”

Read & Watch: Like Father, Like Son: Ruud Makes His Mark

Ruud made his first third round at a Grand Slam by beating Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. The 20-year-old Ruud, playing at a career-high No. 63, made the fourth round at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome earlier this month (l. to Del Potro) and improved to 13-5 on the season with the straight-sets win against Berrettini.

“Today, by the scoreline against Berrettini, seems like he did his work, and he deserves to be in the third round. I will take him very seriously,” Federer said.

Ruud has matched his Grand Slam win total this week and has yet to drop a set in beating Berrettini and 2014 semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

I didn’t kind of expect myself to win in three straight sets, but I played very good tennis when I had to the most, especially toward the end of both first and second set,” Ruud said of his second-round match.

“Now I’m playing one of the greatest champions ever of this sport on Friday, so I’m just super excited for it. I can play loose and free. I have nothing to stress about or think too much about.

“But of course I will be a bit excited and nervous, but I will just look at it as a great opportunity and a privilege to be able to play Roger.”

In other action, French wild card Nicolas Mahut, 37, beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 and will meet the winner of Argentine Leonardo Mayer and 17th seed Diego Schwartzman. Their match was suspended because of darkness with Mayer leading 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-3.

“I was completely carefree. I could be carefree. I played my last weapons, and it was good. This is something that one can do when one is at the end of one’s career,” Mahut said. “I’m here now at the third round. It’s crazy. But that’s also the [Roland Garros] magic. French players can give their best. As every time when I was young, I would watch tennis on TV and I could see a French player playing in an outstanding way, and that’s never been my case. And I thought, ‘Oh my God, in 20 years I haven’t done it.’ And this year it’s happening. I’m very proud. I’m very happy.”

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Konta reaches French Open third round for first time

  • Posted: May 29, 2019

Johanna Konta became the first British woman since 1992 to reach the French Open third round as she overcame sickness to battle past Lauren Davis.

Konta, seeded 26th, needed four match points to clinch a hard-fought 6-3 1-6 6-3 win over the American in Paris.

“I’ve been a bit sick since Sunday. I’m doing everything I can to recover and dealing with it,” Konta said.

The 28-year-old British number one will play Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova, ranked 46th, on Friday.

Konta would have expected to face fourth seed Kiki Bertens, who Konta beat in the Rome Masters semi-finals recently, but the Dutch player retired from her match against Kuzmova because of illness.

Konta has also been struggling with a heavy cold, blowing her nose between points and sounding hoarse during the post-match media interviews.

“I wouldn’t say I’m feeling brilliant, but I’m also managing well and cracking on,” she said.

“I’m letting my body heal itself as best as it can with the demands that are on it right now.”

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‘I knew it wasn’t over until I was shaking hands’

Konta has surged back up the world rankings after a productive clay-court season which has seen her reach the Morocco Open and Italian Open finals, beating Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams and Bertens in Rome.

She had never won a main-draw match in Paris until her first-round win over German qualifier Antonia Lottner on Tuesday.

Now she has a great opportunity to reach the Roland Garros second week after eventually seeing off Davis, who is ranked 111th in the world.

After edging a tight opening set by breaking in the penultimate game, then losing her way in the second, Konta showed impressive mental resilience to eventually take the decider.

She managed to instantly block out the second set, hitting 10 winners and making only two unforced errors to surge into a 5-0 lead.

Then she stuttered again with one game separating her from victory.

Davis saved the first match point on her own serve with a crunching cross-court forehand, then nicked a break back after Konta let slip a 40-15 lead at 5-2.

A hold to love for Davis reinforced momentum had swung back in her favour, with Konta’s plight looking precarious when she trailed 0-40 as Davis threatened to put the set back on serve.

Konta, however, managed to reset again, fighting back to avert danger and clinching victory at the fourth attempt with a thumping drive volley.

“I knew up until the very end, until I was shaking hands with her, it was not going to be over,” added Konta, who has emulated Briton Jo Durie’s achievement of reaching the last 32.

“I’m definitely playing good tennis right now. I’m competing well.

“When I’m presented with tough situations out there, I keep a cool head. I’m managing to problem-solve well, which makes me difficult to play.”

‘She is tough mentally’ – analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

Only twice in 13 matches this year has Johanna Konta failed to win a deciding set: that is a record which stands comparison with the very best in the world.

Lauren Davis was far too good in the second set, but Konta reasserted her authority from the very first point of the decider. And she then slammed the door shot as a resurgent American threatened to force it open again.

Konta will now play Viktoria Kuzmova for a place in the last 16. The Slovak has a ranking similar to the one Konta had before she reached the final in Rome, but it will be the 21 year old’s first ever Grand Slam third round match.

Great Britain Davis Cup captain Leon Smith on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

I am thrilled for Konta. It is tough to get over the line when sets get tight like that. It is wonderful to see. The third round is such good progress for her.

With Kiki Bertens having to retire from her match, it has opened up the draw. It gives Konta a really good opportunity to get to the second week.

We have seen upsets but she is in a good way. She is tough mentally and has shown good composure.

Evans and Norrie win in men’s doubles

Britons Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie fought back from a set down to win 4-6 6-4 6-3 against Americans Steve Johnson and Denis Kudla in the first round of the men’s doubles.

Evans and Norrie face the 14th-seeded duo of Dutchman Robin Haase and Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen in the second round on Thursday.

In the first round of the mixed doubles, Britain’s Luke Bambridge, partnered with American Asia Muhammad, overcame the French pair of Pauline Parmentier and Fabrice Martin, winning 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 10-5.

Briton Neal Skupski and Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez won via a champions tie-break, beating Japan’s Eri Hozumi and Ben McLachlan 6-1 3-6 10-6.

Britain’s Dominic Inglot and Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu lost 1-6 7-5 14-12 to Croatia’s Darija Jurak and American Austin Krajicek.

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