French Open Roundup | Djokovic and Nadal advance;Tsonga crashes out
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal registered straight set victories over Robin Hasse and Joao Sousa respectively on day 4 of the ongoing French Open. Meanwhile, it was a mixed day for India as Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna advanced in doubles while Sania Mirza and Yaroslava Shvedova crashed out.
Spanish star Rafael Nadal continued his clay-court dominance as he made light work of Dutchman Robin Haase beating him 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours. The fourth seed Nadal hardly broke a sweat as he continues his march towards a record-extending 10th Roland Garros title.
Meanwhile, Nadal's arch-rival Serbia’s Novak Djokovic also had things easy as he beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. The two heavyweights have been in fine form so far in the tournament and if they continue their respective runs, there is a chance that will face-off against each other in the semifinals.
In the upset of the day, French hopes took a major dash as 12th seed Jo-Wilfred Tsonga’s journey was ended by Renzo Olivo. Tsonga lost to the Argentine world no. 91 by 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4.
In the women’s section, Venus Williams registered a straight sets victory over Japan’s Kurumi Nara, 6-3, 6-1. Venus was cheered on from the stands by her younger sister Serena and Venus' performance on the day must have surely done her sister proud.
Defending champion Garbine Muguruza recovered from a set down to beat Anett Kontaveit 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2 and book a third-round clash against Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
However, Bethanie Mattek-Sands stopped Petra Kvitova from a dream comeback as she stunned the famous Czech 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5). The two-time former Wimbledon champion was returning from an injury to her playing hand, caused due to being stabbed in December.
Mixed fortunes for India:
Day 4 was a mixed day for India as Sania Mirza and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan were shocked by the unseeded pair of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and Australia's Daria Gavrilova 6-7 (5), 6-1, 2-6 in their women’s doubles first-round encounter
The battle that went on for 2 hours and 23 minutes, saw momentum swing from one side to the other and though Mirza and Shedova were good in patches, it was not good enough on the day, as the fourth seeds were knocked out.
Apart from this, there was good news for the Indian fans. In the men’s doubles category, India’s Rohan Bopanna advanced to the second round after winning the first round match with his Uruguayan partner Pablo Cuevas. They defeated the French pair of Mathias Bourgue and Paul-Henri Mathieu by 6-1, 6-1.
In another match, Leander Paes and his partner Scott Lipsky beat Radu Albot of Moldova and Hyeon Chung of South Korea. The Indo-American duo won 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-2. They fought hard before taking the first set but lost the second one. However, they managed to up their game when it mattered the most and outclassed their opponents in the third set.
Did you know, Sharapova's 35 singles titles and five Grand Slam titles—two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open—rank third among active players, behind Serena and Venus Williams.
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