French Open 5 highlights: Serena shows grit, Nadal cruises, Sharapova shows class

Day five of the French Open was enthralling as Serena Williams fought back from a set down to reach the third round of the French Open. Defending champion Rafael Nadal outclassed his opponent with ease as well.

However, it was the end of the road for Canada’s Denis Shapovalov who lost to Germany’s Maximilian Marterer. Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem were stretched to four sets as well. The women’s third seed Garbine Muguruza alos eased past France number 257 Fiona Ferro 6-4, 6-3. Without rain being a hindrance, it was a superb day for tennis.

Here is a wrap of the day 5:

Serena fights back

Serena Williams battled back from a set and break down to defeat Australia’s Ashleigh Barty 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the French Open third round on Thursday. The three-time champion and former world number one, dressed again in her all-black catsuit, is playing her first Slam since winning the 2017 Australian Open while two months pregnant.

The 36-year-old, seeking a 24th Grand Slam title, will face either Germany’s Julia Goerges or Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium for a place in the last 16. If she gets past the third round, Williams could face old rival Maria Sharapova for a place in the quarter-finals.

Nadal sets up Gasquet meeting

Rafael Nadal set up a French Open third-round clash with his “good friend” and home darling Richard Gasquet by thrashing Argentina’s Guido Pella on Thursday. The top seed had struggled at times against lucky loser Simone Bolelli in the first round, but was back to his best as he raced to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 victory. The 31-year-old will next face Gasquet, whom he has beaten 15 times from as many meetings in professional tennis, on Saturday.

“I have a great relationship with him always, since we were kids,” said Nadal.

Sharapova sees off Vekic

Two-time champion Maria Sharapova edged closer to a possible French Open last-16 duel with Serena Williams by seeing off Croatia’s Donna Vekic 7-5, 6-4 in the second round on Thursday. Former world number one Sharapova, seeded 28 this year, will face Czech sixth seed Karolina Pliskova for a place in the fourth round.

Sharapova, the champion in Paris in 2012 and 2014, is playing Roland Garros for the first time since 2015. The 31-year-old was serving a doping ban in 2015 and was refused a wildcard by Roland Garros organisers last year.

Cilic scrapes past Polish qualifier

Third seed Marin Cilic reached the French Open third round for the eighth time on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-5 win over Polish qualifier and world number 188 Hubert Hurkacz. Former US Open champion Cilic, who reached the quarter-finals in Paris last year, will face Steve Johnson of the United States for a place in the last 16.

It was a roller-coaster of a performance by Cilic who cracked 48 winners but also 52 unforced errors.

From the sidelines

Strong genes

Mischa Zverev joined younger brother Alexander in round three by beating Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-7(0), 7-6(2), 6-1 on Thursday. It is the first time there have been two brothers in the last 32 at Roland Garros since Americans Gene and Sandy Mayer in 1979.

Benneteau bows out

Home favourite Julien Benneteau bid farewell to the French fans as his final French Open campaign before retirement ended with a straight-sets loss to Juan Martin del Potro on Philippe Chatrier.

“Yeah, it’s something special for me. I tried to do my best today on Philippe Chatrier court, but Juan Martin was simply too strong in every part of the game,” said the 36-year-old.

Last lucky man standing
There were a record eight lucky losers in the men’s singles draw this year, but Estonian Jurgen Zopp was the only one to make it to the third round. Having not played at a Grand Slam since 2014, the world number 136 had to do it the hard way too, beating American 14th seed Jack Sock in five sets before coming back from two sets down to beat fellow lucky loser Ruben Bemelmans in round two. The 30-year-old will face world number 70 Maximilian Marterer next, with a potential last-16 clash against Rafael Nadal up for grabs.

So close, yet so far
American Bernarda Pera, playing in only the second Grand Slam tournament of her career, collapsed to defeat by Daria Gavrilova despite leading 7-5, 5-2 with a double break. The world number 73, who reached the Australian Open third round on her major debut earlier this year, lost five games in a row, missing a match point on her own serve along the way. Pera managed to save three match points herself in the deciding set, but still lost 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

Quotable quotes 

“I don’t remember him, because I never met him.”

Nadal answers a question about Roland Garros, a French aviator and fighter pilot who was killed during World War I. The French Open venue was named after him posthumously.

“I have one croissant per day, and if I’ve been running a lot, two. I just smell butter, and I feel like having one.”

Former champion Garbine Muguruza can’t resist the classic French pastries.

“Do you know the schedule?”

Maria Sharapova responds to a question about her possible return to the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier against Karolina Pliskova on Saturday.

“It’s just a paper cut.”

In true British style, Kyle Edmund plays down a problem with his finger after beating Marton Fucsovics.

“Grass is going to be a big part of the season for me. I think, I always enjoyed playing on it. It really suits my game style. I’m excited, you know, it’s a short part of the season, but for me it’s the funnest part.”

Denis Shapovalov looking forward to fun on the grass.

“I needed help getting in and out of bed. If I needed to go to the shower or go to the bathroom, I needed someone to help me get there. It wasn’t that I wasn’t able to play, it’s that I wasn’t able to live my life the way I’d been used to.”

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands talks about the horrific knee injury she suffered at Wimbledon last year, after seeing her Grand Slam return ended with a loss to Andrea Petkovic on Thursday.

Numbers up

188: The ranking of Cilic’s vanquished opponent Hubert Hurkacz. The Polish qualifier fought back in the third and fourth sets on Philippe Chatrier court, but the third seed came through 6-2, 6-2, 6-7(3), 7-5.

82: Number of unforced errors made by 19-year-old Shapovalov in his surprise defeat.

5: Match points needed for two-time champion Maria Sharapova to get past Croatia’s Donna Vekic.

27: Winners hit by Serena Williams in her comeback victory over Ashleigh Barty. She managed only three in the first set.