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PARIS. — World No. 2 Novak Djokovic overcame a minor scare to beat Croatian 25th seed Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4 and advance into the fourth round of the French Open tennis tournament yesterday. Yesterday also saw Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic making history at the French Open by upsetting third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-4, 6-4 in the women’s third round.
The defeat meant that the tournament’s top three seeds had all been ousted inside six days, with top seed Serena Williams losing in the second round and second seed Li Na departing in the first.
It was the first Grand Slam in the Open era where the top three women seeds all failed to make the last 16.
Ranked 72nd in the world, 21-year-old Tomljanovic will next play Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, who ended the challenge of 18-year-old American wildcard Taylor Townsend 6-2, 6-2, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
Meanwhile, Djokovic, chasing the only grand slam title to elude him, was in complete control until the end of the third set, when the big-serving Cilic forced him to a tiebreak, which the six-time grand slam champion lost 7-2.
Normal service resumed afterwards and Djokovic, although not playing his best tennis, finished it off on Cilic’s serve when the Croatian double faulted. He will next face either Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 13th seed, or Polish 22nd seed Jerzy Janowicz.
Roger Federer survived a second-set hiccup to beat Dimitry Tursunov of Russia 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4 and reach the fourth round.
The Swiss fourth seed will meet Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the last 16. After breaking the 31st seed in the 12th game to take the first set, Federer wasted four set points in the second before Tursunov took the tiebreak 9-7.
The third set was far easier for the crowd favourite at Roland Garros but he continued to waste opportunities to break Tursunov’s serve, including seven in the fifth game of the final set.
But the Swiss broke for 4-3 and won the three-hour match on his first match point with a forehand winner.
Latvian wild child Ernests Gulbis booked a fourth round spot and a date with Federer, the man he blasted as “boring” at Roland Garros last year.
Gulbis, the 18th seed, won a fractious third round clash against Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in the Court One bullring to make the last 16 for the first time since he reached the quarter-finals in 2008. — AFP.
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