Continuing his great form, Rafael Nadal and defending champion Novak Djokovic eased into the quarter-finals on a day reigning women’s champion Garbine Muguruza crashed out in the last 16 round of the French Open in Paris.
Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal thrashed Spanish 17th seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 – a win that brought him at par with Roger Federer, who too has reached the French Open quarters eight times.
“I played against a very good player, and I was able to win in straight sets with very positive result. So happy for that. Probably I didn't play as well as I did the other day, but I still played well, no? I played some very good shots,” said Nadal.
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Bautista Agut agreed. “Nadal is at his best. He plays every point with great intensity and yields nothing. You try to take a few risks, and then of course you make more mistakes than usual,” he said.
Meanwhile, last year’s winner Djokovic defeated 19th seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas to enter his 11th quarter-final round at Roland Garros. Djokovic won 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-3, even though his consultant coach Andre Agassi was not present in the stands.
“I hope Andre only saw the second and third sets,” quipped Djokovic. “I didn't start off the blocks the way I wanted. He started very solid, but it was very close in the first set. It could have gone either way and I’m just glad that I managed to win that tie-breaker, because after that I started playing with more freedom, more confidence. Obviously being a set up after an hour and 20 minutes, feels much better than being down a set.”
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Djokovic added: “I thought especially in the second I did things very well from back of the court. I mixed it up and didn't give him any comfort zone on the court. I always made him guess, which was one of the keys.”
Home favourite and 13th seed Kristina Mladenovic upset fourth seed Garbine Muguruza Blanco of Spain 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to book a berth in the quarter-finals. Kristina is trying to become the first Frenchwoman since Mary Pierce in 2000 to lift aloft the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen.
There was some good news for India as well. Second seeds Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig if Croatia defeated Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and New Zealander Artem Sitak 6-2, 6-4 to enter the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles.
However, India suffered a double blow in the doubles competition. In a third round match, Ryan Harrison of USA and Michael Venus of New Zealand beat Purav Raja and Divij Sharan of India 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
And fifth seeds Jamie Murray of Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil sent ninth seeds Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay packing, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
In the opening round of the junior boys, Clement Tabur of France defeated India’s Abhimanyu Vannemreddy 6-0, 6-1.
And in a junior girls’ first round match, Daniela Vismane of Latvia defeated Zeel Desai of India 6-0, 6-2.
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All the results:
Men's singles: (8) Kei Nishikori (Jpn) bt Hyeon Chung (Kor) 7-5 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 0-6 6-4
Karen Khachanov (Rus) bt (21) John Isner (USA) 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3)
(4) Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt (17) Roberto Bautista Agut (Spa) 6-1 6-2 6-2
(15) Gael Monfils (Fra) bt (24) Richard Gasquet (Fra) 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 4-3 retired
(20) Pablo Carreno (Spain) bt (5) Milos Raonic (Canada) 4-6 7-6(2) 6-7(6) 6-4 8-6
(2) Novak Djokovic bt (19) Albert Ramos Vinolas 7-6 6-1 6-3
Women's singles:
Jelena Ostapenko (Lat) bt (23) Samantha Stosur (Aus) 2-6 6-2 6-4
Veronica Cepede Royg (Par) bt Mariana Duque-Marino (Col) 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-3
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(11) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt (8) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 6-1 4-6 6-2
Petra Martic (Cro) bt (17) Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) 6-1 6-1,
(2) Karolina Pliskova (Cze) bt Carina Witthoeft (Ger) 7-5 6-1,
(5) Elina Svitolina (Ukr) bt Magda Linette (Pol) 6-4 7-5
(13) Kristina Mladenovic (France) bt (4) Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) 6-1 3-6 6-3
(30) Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) bt (10) Venus Williams (U.S.) 5-7 6-2 6-1
Women's Doubles 2nd round:
(1) Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) & Lucie Safarova (Cze) bt Aleksandra Krunic (Ser) & Ajla Tomljanovic (Cro) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4,
(3) Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) & Martina Hingis (Swi) bt (13) Kiki Bertens (Ned) & Johanna Larsson (Swe) 6-2 6-0
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Women's Doubles 3rd rd:
Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) & Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Nao Hibino (Jpn) & Alicja Rosolska (Pol) 6-3 6-2
Irina-Camelia Begu (Rom) & Saisai Zheng (Chn) bt Ying-Ying Duan (Chn) & Shuai Peng (Chn) 6-4 6-2
Men's Doubles 3rd rd:
Fernando Verdasco (Spa) & Nenad Zimonjic (Ser) bt Samuel Groth (Aus) & Robert Lindstedt (Swe) 6-2 6-4
Ryan Harrison (USA) & Michael Venus (Nzl) bt Purav Raja (Ind) & Divij Sharan (Ind) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2
(5) Jamie Murray (Gbr) & Bruno Soares (Bra) bt (9) Rohan Bopanna (Ind) & Pablo Cuevas (Uru) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2
Mixed Doubles 2nd rd:
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Rajeev Ram (USA) & Casey Dellacqua (Aus) bt (6) Jean-Julien Rojer (Ned) & Hao-Ching Chan (Tpe) 6-3 3-6 10-6
