BEVERLY HILLS, October 03, (THEWILL) – Novak Djokovic, on Saturday, rounded off the third-round action at the French Open with a dominant display that overwhelmed Daniel Elahi Galin. In the two hour-eight minute contest that ended 6-0 6-3 6-2 in Djokovic’s favour, the World No. 1 saved all five break points against his serve and ended the day with a +10 differential in winners and unforced errors. As he comes off what is his 71st Roland Garros match victory, the Serbian breaks the tie that held him and Roger Federer in second place in the all-time men’s list of victories. He is now the sole player in second place.
Waiting for him in the Round of 16 is the Russian Karen Khachanov. Seeded 15th, Khachanov trails Djokovic in their head-to-head series 3-1. However, this will be their first meeting on clay and THEWILL expects it to be an excitingly pleasurable match to watch.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the fifth-seeded player at the Open was playing sublime tennis against his third-round opponent when Aljaz Bedene retired from the match. Tsitsipas, on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, had already racked up 28 winners to 11 unforced errors that included 10 aces and zero double faults. The fifth-seeded Greek will go on to face another player whose opponent also retired. Grigor Dimitrov, was also in command of the game against the Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baene when play was stopped and Baene retired. The Bulgarian was leading 6-1 6-3 and had not seen a break point against his serve all game. It will be the first time that the Greek will face the Bulgarian and both are bidding to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time in their careers.
In the female category, two-time Wimbledon champion and French Open semi-finalist eight years ago, Petra Kvitova had to dig deep in her match against Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez. In the very trying first set, she did what she could to stay on course and grind out the victory she knew she deserved. The Czech was efficient when she played forward with a high percentage of points at the net, winning 13 of 15 points by so doing. She broke Fernandez for an eighth time in the final game to chalk up her win in one hour, 54 minutes. She will next face Zhang Shuai from China in the next round. The Chinese triumphed over the wild card Clara Burel in a lengthy game that ended 7-6(2) 7-5.
This next round will feature a promising tie in a contest of unseeded players. One is from an upset of the day. Paula Badosa from Spain played sublime tennis to knock out 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets. She won 6-4 6-3. Joining her in the Round of 16 where they will meet to see which of the pair of unseeded players will continue in the tournament is the German Laura Siegemund. Siegemund came from a set down to rally past world no. 13 Petra Martic and carry the day 6-7(5) 6-3 6-0. They have, by their wins, both advanced to the Round of 16 at a major for the first time.
Ons Jabeur, the Tunisian, set a record for herself when she beat the eight seed Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(7) 2-6 6-3. She became the first Arab woman to contest a major quarterfinal. In just over two hours, the 30th seed did enough to propel her past the Belarusian for a place in the next round. She will meet whoever scales through in the contest between 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza and American Danielle Collins.
One female player on a winning streak since the WTA tour returned is Fiona Ferro, the French professional. Playing on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the 23-year-old showed why she is in such a form. After dropping her second set to Patricia Maria Tig, she displayed enormous calm and focus to come back and take the final set six love, knocking the Romanian out of the Open. It ended 7-6(7) 4-6 6-0. She is one of the home favourites that have entered the Round of 16, the other being Caroline Garcia. Ferro will next meet Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Rainfall on the clay courts of Roland Garros forced the match between Garbine Muguruza and Danielle Collins to be suspended. Both players and game officials had to leave Court Suzanne-Lenglen though Muguruza broke Collins in the opening game and was serving at 1-0, 30-0 when play was suspended.
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