Novak Djokovic, shown during a first-round match in the French Open, won in straight sets Friday to reach the tournament's Round of 16. UPI/David Silpa |
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PARIS, June 1 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Novak Djokovic raced to a straight-set win but Roger Federer had more of a battle in Friday's third-round play at the French Open.
Lengthy matches earlier in the day pushed Djokovic's start time to nearly 8 p.m. but he quickly served notice he wanted to get the match completed and not play Saturday. He took 1 hour, 44 minutes to get past Nicolas Devilder 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. Devilder managed one break but Djokovic sailed anyway, getting seven breaks and taking 55 percent of the points off Devilder's serve.
Federer, seeded third, was expected to have as easy a time against Nicolas Mahut, who had little previous success on clay courts. But after the first set went as expected, Mahut pushed Federer to four sets before falling 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Federer had 54 winners and dropped serve only twice but really never shook Mahut, a local favorite in Paris.
No. 5-seeded Jo-Winfried Tsonga made the French crowd happy with a 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 win over Fabio Fognini but 18th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka outlasted No. 11 Frenchman Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 7-5.
Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych also needed five sets before edging 31st-seeded Kevin Anderson 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4 and Juan Martin del Porto, seeded ninth, defeated Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1.
No. 22-seeded Andreas Seppi posted a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 upset of 14th-seeded Fernando Verdasco and 20th-seeded Marcel Granollers slipped by Malek Jaziri 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the final men's second-round match.
David Goffin was a 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-1 winner over Lukasz Kubot and claimed a fourth-round berth versus Federer.
Djokovic goes against Seppi in the next round.
