Last year’s finalists Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem charged into the French Open last 16 on Friday while French wildcard Hugo Gaston, ranked at 239 in the world, defeated 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka in five sets.
Nadal, the three-time defending champion, secured a smooth 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 win over Italian world number 74 Stefano Travaglia. The 12-time Roland Garros winner next faces American qualifier Sebastian Korda, ranked a lowly 213th, for a quarter-final spot.
“He’s my biggest idol. He’s one of the reasons I play tennis,” Korda said of the Spaniard. “Growing up, I named my cat Rafa after him. That says a lot about how much I love the guy.”
American qualifier Korda, the 20-year-old son of 1998 Australian Open champion and 1992 Roland Garros runner-up Petr Korda, defeated fellow qualifier Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the fourth round.
He is the first qualifier to reach the second week in nine years and first man outside the top 200 to make the last 16 in Paris since France’s Arnaud di Pasquale in 2002.
France’s Gaston won the rain-interrupted tie 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 to become the second player ranked outside the top 200 to reach the last 16 on Friday
The 20-year-old left-hander, the only home player still standing out of 18 who started in the men’s draw, will face third seed and US Open champion Thiem for a place in the quarter-finals.
The Austrian third seed broke down early resistance from Norway’s Casper Ruud to secure an impressive 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 victory.
At 19, Italian teenager Jannik Sinner is the youngest player to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros since Novak Djokovic in 2006.
Last year’s Next Gen champion made the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time by beating Federico Coria 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.
He will meet the US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev after the German sixth seed ended the run of qualifier and 2018 semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato in three sets.
Sonego wins 36-point tiebreak to reach last 16
Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego qualified for the last 16 of a major for the first time after edging out Taylor Fritz in a 36-point tiebreak, the joint second longest in Grand Slam history.
World number 46 Sonego required seven match points to close out a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 7-6 (19/17) win and finish off the American 27th seed following a 30-minute tiebreak.
It fell two points shy of the record 38-point tiebreak played by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Andy Roddick and the 2007 Australian Open.
Fritz, who was broken just once the entire match, blew nine set points in the third set including six in the tiebreak.
Sonego, 25, takes on the winner of the tie between 12th seed Diego Schwartzman and Norbert Gombos for a place in the quarter-finals.
Five Italians reached the men’s third round at Roland Garros this year – an Open era record for the country. No more than two have made the last 16 before at the same major.
Results
Third round
Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) bt Taylor Fritz (USA x27) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 7-6 (19/17)
Diego Schwartzman (ARG x12) bt Norbert Gombos (SVK) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-3
Hugo Gaston (FRA) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x16) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0
Dominic Thiem (AUT x3) bt Casper Ruud (NOR x28) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1
Alexander Zverev (GER x6) bt Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 6-1, 7-5, 6-3
Jannik Sinner (ITA) bt Federico Coria (ARG) 6-3, 7-5, 7-5
Sebastian Korda (USA) bt Pedro Martínez (ESP) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1
Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 6-1, 6-4, 6-0
With AFP Inputs
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