|
PARIS: Top seeds Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova both moved
smoothly into the last 16 at the French Open on Saturday.
Federer outplayed close friend Mario Ancic of
Croatia winning 6-3, 6-4 6-2 in cool, rainy, evening conditions on
the Philippe Chatrier Centre Court.
Earlier in the day, Sharapova needed a set to
get going, but she finally found her form to defeat Italy’s Karin
Knapp 7-6 (7-4), 6-0.
In men’s third round action, the main upset
came when back-to-form Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia battled from two
sets down to oust fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 4-6, 2-6,
6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
It was, he said, his “biggest victory ever
especially coming back from two sets down to beat Nikolay” and
came after “a very dark period for me the last 12 months” when
he was mentally worn out.
“I’ve been feeling well since the first
tournament on clay and it was just a matter of time,” he said.
“I was feeling that something positive was going to happen.”
The 26-year-old Federer, who is looking to win
in Paris, the only Grand Slam title that has eluded him, broke Ancic
in the fourth game of the first set to set the tone for what turned
out to be a one-sided contest.
Ancic, who is climbing back up the world
rankings after missing most of last season through illness and
injuries, simply had no answer to the Swiss star’s command of the
exchanges either from the baseline or at the net.
“I struggled a little bit early on but once I
got the break I started to play better and more freely,” said
Federer.
“I am happy with my performance—not losing
much energy in the first week is always a good sign.”
Federer went through for a fourth round matchup
against Frenchman Julian Benneteau, who had two points against him
in a tie-break to go two sets down before hitting back to defeat
Robin Soderling of Sweden 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0, 6-1.
The French flag was flying also for former world
junior champion Gael Monfils whose superior fitness helped him see
off Jurgen Melzer of Austria 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.
Fifth-seed David Ferrer of Spain also slugged it
out over five sets with Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt before winning
6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, but Davydenko became the highest seed to
fall in the tournament with his loss to Ljubicic.
Ferrer will next take on the much-improved Radek
Stepanek of the Czech Republic whose unpredictable game was too much
for Spanish claycourter Tommy Robredo winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Robby Ginepri became the first American player
to reach the fourth round since Andre Agassi in 2003 with an
impressive 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 trouncing of Florent Serra of France.
He moved through to take on Chile’s Fernando
Gonzalez, who also fought back from two sets down to beat ninth seed
Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
In other women results, Dinara Safina made it
through to the fourth round in Paris for the third straight year
with a 6-2, 7-5 win over China’s last representative Zheng Jie
while
2006 runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova saw off
another Russian, Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1.
Also advancing were former world junior champion
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus crushed Italian veteran Francesa
Schiavone 6-1, 6-1 and third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who
defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 7-5, 6-3.
|
