Champion Muguruza, Williams & Kuznetsova reach fourth round

Defending champion Garbine Muguruza reached the fourth round of the French Open with a 7-5 6-2 win over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.

The Spaniard has had a patchy year so far and is seeking to regain the form that enabled her to secure her first Grand Slam title in Paris last year.

She will face France’s 13th seed Kristina Mladenovic in the last 16.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, 36, joined them with an impressive win against Elise Mertens.

• Live scores and schedule

Fourth seed Muguruza, 23, took a tight first set that featured seven breaks of serve but improved in the second set to see off Putintseva, a surprise quarter-finalist at Roland Garros last year.

“I’m happy I went out there without any kind of fear,” said Muguruza.

“I wanted the match. I tried to just do what I had to do and keep that during the whole match.

“The more matches I play and the tougher victories gives you self-confidence, a successful feeling out there.”

Mladenovic, 24, reached the last 16 at Roland Garros for the first time with a remarkable comeback win against American Shelby Rogers.

The Frenchwoman won 7-5 4-6 8-6 against Rogers, who reached the quarter-finals last year, after trailing 5-2 in the deciding set.

Venus to make more history?

Williams is making an Open Era record 20th appearance at Roland Garros, having missed just one tournament in Paris since her debut appearance in 1997.

And, on the evidence of a clinical win against Belgium’s Mertens, the American is a serious contender to win her first title on the French clay.

She swept past her unseeded opponent in one hour and two minutes to win 6-3 6-1.

In the last 16, Williams will play Switzerland’s 30th seed Timea Bacsinszky, who defeated unseeded Tunisian Ons Jabeur.

Elsewhere, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, the 11th seed, will finish her match against 18-year-old unseeded American Cici Bellis on Saturday. Wozniacki took the first set 6-2 with Bellis leading 5-2 in the second before rain caused an early end to Friday’s play.

Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, moved into the last 16 with a hard-fought three-set win against China’s Zhang Shuai.

The eighth seed needed more than three hours to eventually see off 32nd seed Zhang in a 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 7-5 win.

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Andy Murray v Juan Martin del Potro: French Open set for biggest clash so far

Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro will resume their rivalry in the most anticipated match of the French Open so far on Saturday.

The pair will meet in the third round on Philippe Chatrier Court at about 12:00 BST.

Murray, the world number one, beat the Argentine to win Olympic gold last August, but lost their Davis Cup match the following month.

British number two Kyle Edmund plays South Africa’s Kevin Anderson at 10:00.

The 22-year-old from Yorkshire is through to the third round of a Grand Slam for only the second time, having reached round four at last year’s US Open.

Murray will hope to take another step back towards top form when he plays Del Potro for the 10th time, having won six of their previous encounters.

“I definitely feel like I’m capable of winning that match,” said the Scot.

• ‘I’m not playing like number one, but I can turn it around’ – Murray
• French Open live scores and schedule

Murray & Del Potro fighting for fitness

After two epic contests in 2016, Murray and Del Potro will both head into Saturday’s match with uncertainly surrounding their form and fitness.

The 30-year-old Scot has struggled with injury and illness this year and, although now suffering only with a mild cough, his relative lack of matches has left him searching for consistency.

He was heard complaining about his own movement as he fought his way past Martin Klizan on Thursday, but drew encouragement from the performance.

Two four-set matches this week have at least seen him run 5,248m over the course of six hours.

“Physically I pulled up well and felt good, so I will gain a lot of confidence from that,” he said after his second-round match.

“And also, I hit a lot of balls out there today.”

Del Potro, 28, skipped the Australian Open at the start of the year to protect a fragile body that has seen the latter years of his career repeatedly interrupted by injuries.

As a result, he is ranked 30th and so meets the top players earlier in tournaments – he has already lost three times to Novak Djokovic and once to Roger Federer in 2017.

He made it through the second round in Paris when opponent Nicolas Almagro retired with an injury, but the Argentine was himself dealing with a groin problem, later saying: “I felt some pain. I didn’t move well.”

Looking ahead to Saturday, the 2009 US Open champion added: “Andy is one of the favourites to win this tournament.

“And now I know his game a lot, but I need to be in good shape and physically be stronger to hold a long match if we play a long match, long rallies.”

Positivity key for Murray success

Murray lost his composure at times during his second-round match and repeatedly looked to those in his player box for more obvious support.

Coaches Ivan Lendl and Jamie Delgado, along with Davis Cup captain Leon Smith and members of Murray’s support team and family, will again be in the box on Saturday.

“I think a lot of the time when I’m playing and especially when I’m frustrated or down, I don’t always project a lot of positivity on the court,” said Murray.

“Sometimes I think also for my team it’s difficult to know exactly how I’m feeling or what it is that I need when I’m on the court.

“So I think my job is really to try to be more positive while I’m out there.”

Anderson serve to test Edmund

Edmund might hold the edge in terms of ranking over Anderson at 47 in the world to 56, but the South African has far more experience.

Nine years older, at 31, the 6ft 8in Anderson will play in the third round of a Grand Slam for the 17th time.

He also has a huge weapon in his serve, hitting 34 aces to Edmund’s four across the first two rounds.

“He’s obviously got a big game, big guy,” said Edmund.

“In hot conditions the ball is really pinging around, so Saturday I’ve just got to be on it. One match at a time.

“He’s got a great serve and good groundstrokes. He was out a bit with injury, but before that he was consistent at the top of the game and getting good results.”

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Andre Agassi expects to coach Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon

Andre Agassi expects to continue his coaching relationship with world number two Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon next month.

The American former world number one began working with Djokovic at the French Open last week.

The pair have yet to decide on a long-term arrangement, but Agassi is ready to take it through to Wimbledon.

“If he wants me there, yeah, I will come and figure it out,” Agassi told Eurosport.

“Whatever’s practical and achievable, 100% I will make that effort.”

Agassi, 47, won eight Grand Slam titles before retiring in 2006, and has since committed most of his time to his charitable foundation in Las Vegas.

• Can Agassi bring back the ‘warrior’ in Djokovic?

He was lured back to the tennis circuit by a phone call in April from Djokovic, whose form has deserted him since he won his 12th Grand Slam title in Paris last year.

Speaking to Boris Becker – who was among the coaching team Djokovic split from in December – Agassi revealed it was his wife, 22-time Grand Slam champion Steffi Graf, who persuaded him to try out the role.

“I said: ‘Listen, maybe I can help you over the phone, I don’t think you need much, but this is not possible for me with the balance of my life’,” said Agassi.

“Then Steffi said ‘maybe you’ll enjoy it.’ I said, ‘you think?’ I respect her so much I said I’ll go early, as I have to be in Paris anyway, and just get to know him.”

The American also suggested he was not being paid by Djokovic for his time.

“I do it on my own time, I do it on my own dime,” said Agassi.

“I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything. I want to help him and it helps the game. Him at his best is good for the game, and it’s a way I can contribute.”

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Rafael Nadal races into French Open fourth round with one-sided win

Nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal produced a brilliant display to beat Nikoloz Bashashvili 6-0 6-1 6-0.

The fourth seed needed only 90 minutes to see off the Georgian and secured his place in the fourth round with his most one-sided win at Roland Garros.

Nadal, 31 on Saturday, has now won 98 of 100 best-of-five clay-court matches.

The Spaniard is bidding to become the first player in the Open era – and only the second in history – to win 10 titles at any Grand Slam event.

Margaret Court is the only player to have won 10 or more titles at one Grand Slam event, winning the Australian Open on 11 occasions between 1960 and 1973.

Nadal has a 75-2 win-loss record at Roland Garros with his only defeats coming against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and Novak Djokovic in the 2015 quarter-finals.

Reigning champion Novak Djokovic faces Argentine Diego Schwartzmann later.

• Live scores and schedule

Nadal won the first set in 23 minutes and won the next five games before world number 63 Basilashvili finally got on the scoreboard.

The Spaniard wrapped up the set by winning the next game and clinched victory with a storm threatening to interrupt play.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion will face compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut in the next round.

My best match in a while – Nadal

“It is always important to be through, that’s the most important thing,” said Nadal. “But obviously when you have positive feelings it is even more important.

“Basilashvili had been playing well. He won against Gilles Simon in the first round who is a tough opponent and also Viktor Troicki.

“I’m happy because I had never played against him and I knew it would be tough.

“He hits the ball so quick but I believe I played my best match in a while.”

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Margaret Court: Tennis legend accuses 'US gay lobby' of conspiracy

Tennis great Margaret Court believes there is a “conspiracy” from the “US gay lobby” to strip her name from one of the Australian Open stadiums.

The 74-year-old has been criticised for her beliefs on same-sex marriage, with 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova calling for the Margaret Court Arena to be renamed.

I have 35 cultures in my church and I love them all. I think it’s very sad and sick it’s being brought up now

“They have a lot of money behind them,” Court told 3AW radio.

Court won 24 Grand Slam titles, 11 in the Open era, which began in 1968.

Regarding calls for the stadium in her honour to be renamed, she said: “I think I’ve won more Grand Slams than any man or woman and if it is [renamed], I don’t believe I deserve it.

“They could probably get 100,000 petitions in 24 hours because that’s how they work. There’s a lot of money behind it, and it’s coming from America.”

And asked about a possible conspiracy, she added: “Yes, I believe there is… I think the [gay] lobby, yeah.”

Tennis Australia and the operator of the Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne and Olympic Parks, have distanced themselves from Court’s views on gay marriage. There are currently no plans to rename the venue.

The recent furore started following Court’s open letter to The West Australian, when she declared she would not fly on Qantas “where possible” in protest at its support of same-sex marriage. She then told a Christian radio station “tennis is full of lesbians”.

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Top Five Challenger Hot Shots From May 2017

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