French Open Roundup | Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka advance to third round, Tomas Berdych crashes out
Andy Murray has defeated Martin Kizan 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) in a gripping encounter to enter the third round of the French Open. On the other hand, Stan Wawrinka also entered the 3rd round of the tournament, but Tomas Berdych crashed out of the competition after losing to Karen Khachanov.
Top-seeded Andy Murray struggled in the first set but was quick to get off the block in the next sets to secure a 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) victory over his Slovak opponent. Murray will now face Argentine star Juan Martin del Potro, who progressed into next round after his opponent Nicolas Almagro retired with a knee injury, in his next encounter in a bid to secure a place in the last 16.
"I expected a tough match. Martin goes for his shots, he can hit winners with that forehand from anywhere on the court. I tried to play a solid match, I hit deeper the longer the match went on and tried to dictate the points," said 2016 runner-up Murray.
Earlier, third seed Swiss player Stan Wawrinka reached the third-round after registering a 6-4 7-6(5) 7-5 win over Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolo. Wawrinka will now face Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the fourth round.
Eighth seed Japan’s Kei Nishikori easily managed to reach the third round after beating France’s Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-0, 7-6 (7/5). On the other hand, while Marin Cilic booked his place in the third round after a comfortable 6-3 6-2 6-2 win over Konstantin Kravchuk, unseeded Karen Khachanov pulled off a big upset defeating 13th seed Tomas Berdych 7-5 6-4 6-4.
In the women's singles, fifth seed Elina Svitolina managed to make a fine come back in the match after losing the first set and beat former quarter-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6 6-3 6-2.