Day four of the French Open was action packed as Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov took the court of day four. While Djokovic won his match with ease, the rest were stretched to five sets.
Fourth seed Dimitrov clinched a marathon five-set victory over American Jared Donaldson to book a last-32 spot while second seed Zverev, who was trailing by two sets to one against Lajovic, ended up winning in five sets as well.
In the women’s draw, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki registered victories to progress to round three.
Here is a wrap of the day 4:
Zverev survives
Second seed Alexander Zverev staged a fightback to win a five-setter with Dusan Lajovic.
German world number three Zverev found himself in deep trouble when trailing by two sets to one against Lajovic, but the Serbian ran out of gas as it finished 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. The 21-year-old, a winner of three Masters titles, is yet to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final and was knocked out in the first round at Roland Garros last year.
But Zverev moved into round three for the second time, where he will play Bosnian 26th seed Damir Dzumhur, as he looks to become the first German man to win the title since 1937.
Djokovic into round three
Former champion Novak Djokovic reached the French Open third round for the 13th consecutive year by beating Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday.
Djokovic, the 2016 Roland Garros champion and former world number one, is seeded 20 this year after struggling to rediscover his best form after returning from a right elbow injury.
He wasn’t at his best on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but goes on to face Spain’s 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the last 16.
Halep overcomes nightmare start
World number one and top seed Simona Halep recovered from a disastrous first set to reach the French Open second round on Wednesday with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Alison Riske of the United States.
Halep, the runner-up in Paris in 2014 and 2017, slumped 0-5 down in the opening set to world number 83 Riske whose only win at the tournament came in 2014. “It’s always difficult in the first round of a Grand Slam, you are always nervous,” said Halep whose opening round match had been cancelled on Tuesday due to torrential rain. “But I started to run more, played better and kept more balls in play.”
Dimitrov, Nishikori need five sets
Japan’s Kei Nishikori staged a comeback on Philippe Chatrier Court to down home favourite Benoit Paire 6-3, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and reach the French Open third round on Wednesday. The 19th seed, who is playing his first Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon last year after struggling with a wrist injury, outlasted his opponent in a topsy-turvy battle.
The 28-year-old finally got the better of world number 51 Paire in a dramatic fifth set which saw three consecutive breaks of serve before Nishikori saved four break points to serve it out.
Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov clinched a marathon 6-7(2), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 victory over American Jared Donaldson to book a last-32 spot at Roland Garros on Wednesday.
The Bulgarian was pushed all the way by world number 57 Donaldson in a match that lasted four hours and 19 minutes. Dimitrov will face dangerous Spaniard Fernando Verdasco next as he looks to reach the fourth round in Paris for the first time.
From the sidelines
Beers on grandma
Marco Trungelliti, the lucky loser who drove 1,000km in nine hours to make the main draw after being handed a last-minute spot, was knocked out in the second round on Wednesday and then celebrated with a beer...or two.
“My grandmother had a beer when I finished the game. Me too, with her. This is over, there are no more lucky losers, nothing more for me. Drinking a beer once in a while is fine and you do not always have the opportunity to have a beer with your grandmother,” he said.
Playing to win
When Naomi Osaka isn’t at the tournament, she’s usually to be found huddled over a PlayStation console.
“It’s sort of consumed my time a little bit because if I have 30 minutes, then I’ll just sit there, and I might be a little bit late. Like, I’ll spend 35 minutes, and then I’m like, Oh, my God. It’s 30 minutes past, and then I have to rush out the door. So if I’m ever late to anything, you know why.”
Another PlayStation story
Alexander Zverev also reaches for the controller when he gets home from Roland Garros.
“I play a lot of PlayStation, to be honest. I play with (Brazilian player) Marcelo Melo and he can’t beat me. That makes me very happy. That’s my evening routine.”
Tears for cheers
French player Julien Benneteau, who has already announced that this will be his last Roland Garros, wept tears of joy after seeing off Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-3.
“I didn’t know whether it would happen at the beginning of the match or going on to the court, getting out of the locker room,” he said.
Quotable quotes
“J’ai fait mon best.”
Novak Djokovic temporarily losing his mastery of the French language in his on-court interview after beating Spain’s Jaume Munar.
“I think my most favourite would be the one that I win.”
Japan’s Osaka on her favourite Grand Slam tournament
“I am negative, too, of course, but not that much, which is good.”
Petra Kvitova on her happy demeanour
“To sit here and talk about how tough it is and you have people starving to death, there is no point in talking about that.”
Novak Djokovic yearns for perspective over his recent elbow injury.
Numbers up
19: break points saved by Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta when he defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 7-6(0), 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4 to make the third round.
50: combined difference in height (cm) between Venus and Serena Williams and their doubles opponents, Shuko Aoyama and Miyu Kato of Japan.
51: minutes it took second seed Caroline Wozniacki to storm to a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Spanish qualifier Georgina Garcia Perez.
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