Nadal rolls into French Open fourth round

PARIS, May 29 (UPI) -- Four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal dropped just five games in a third-round victory Friday at the French Open in Paris.

Nadal, ranked No. 1 in the world, extended his winning streak to 31 matches at Roland Garros with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 pasting of Lleyton Hewitt.

Hewitt took a 40-0 lead in his first service game but Nadal came back and got the break in a sign of how the day was to unfold. Nadal lost just four points on his own serve in the first set and 18 in the match.

Nadal next takes on No. 23-seeded Robin Soderling, who recorded a 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) upset of 14th-seeded David Ferrer on Friday.

World No. 3 Andy Murray advanced to the fourth round when, with Murray ahead 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, Janko Topsarevic retired with an injury. Also fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic finished a straight-set second-round match against Sergiy Stakhovsky. Djokovic was ahead 6-3, 6-4 Thursday when the match was suspended because of darkness. He took the third set Friday 6-1.

No. 8-seeded Fernando Verdasco was pushed but won 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (10-8) over Nicolas Almagro. He draws 10th-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, who topped 17th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the fourth round.

In the first men's major upset of the tournament, seventh-seeded Gilles Simon fell 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to Victor Hanescu. No. 12-seeded Fernando Gonzalez defeated Josselin Ouanna 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 and earned a fourth-round shot at Hanescu.

Philipp Kohlschreiber completed his suspended match with Juan Carlos Ferrero, winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3.