World number one Rafael Nadal was at his best on Thursday as it took him just 125 minutes to dispatch Guido Pella 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the last-32 at Roland-Garros.
It looked liked Nadal might have been in for a tough afternoon as he had to fight off four break-points in the very first game. After saving the first game, and at 2-2 in the first set, Nadal showed exactly why he is the King of Clay by winning the next nine games in a row. With the first set in the bag and a 5-0 lead in the second, everyone thought that it will be over quick and they were right. It took Nadal just about 45 minutes to wrap up the rest of the second and win the third to claim a comfortable victory. Nadal will face local favorite Richard Gasquet in the next round.
South Africa’ s Kevin Anderson had to dig deep to overcome Pablo Cuevas in four sets. Anderson won the first set fairly comfortably before dropping the second in similar fashion. The third was a tight affair that went to a tie-break. Trailing 5-2 in the tie-break, Anderson dug deep to win the next five points to take the set. There was only one break of serve in the fourth and that enabled Anderson to progress with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory. The South African will face Mischa Zverev in the next round.
Other selected men’s results:
Mari Cilic defeated Hubert Hurkacz 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 7-5
John Isner defeated Horacio Zeballos 6-7 (8), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-2
Juan-Martin del Potro defeated Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Dominic Thiem defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
In the women’s single’s Simona Halep mirrored her men’s counterpart by easing passed Taylor Townsend in just 70 minutes. Her 6-3, 6-1 victory sees her set up with a match against Andrea Petkovic in the next round.
Serena Williams also advanced despite dropping the first set against Ashleigh Barty 6-3. Barty broke Willams’ serve in the first game of the second, and it looked like she will be heading for an early exit, but she broke right back and then once more to take the set 6-3. There was only one break of serve in the second and that also belonged to Williams as she won the third 6-4 to advance.
Maria Sharapova had a much tougher match against Donna Vekic. In a match where both women struggled to hold their serves, Sharapova managed to hold her’s at crucial times to earn a 7-5, 6-4 victory. Williams will face Julia Goerges in the next round.
Other selected women’s results:
Angelique Kerber defeated Ana Bogdan 6-2, 6-3
Caroline Garcia defeated Shuai Peng 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Garbine Muguruza defeated Fiona Ferro 6-4, 6-3
Karolina Pliskova defeated Lucie Safarova 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Photo: Nicolas Gouhier / FFT
