PARIS: Novak Djokovic came through an injury scare Thursday and made his way into the third round at the French Open by beating Gilles Muller 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

The top-ranked Serb slipped near the end of the second set and needed treatment for several minutes on his right groin area.

Djokovic, who can complete a career Grand Slam by winning the French Open, soon recovered from the fall and joined nine-time champion Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in the third round.

Serena Williams also had a fright, but she avoided a repeat second-round exit by beating Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Djokovic followed Serena on Court Suzanne Lenglen and fans were treated to some more drama.

As he prepared to serve for the second set, Djokovic sat in his chair and called for medical assistance.

Moments earlier, his left foot had slipped as he played a shot from the back of the court, throwing the weight of his body onto his right leg.

After receiving treatment, Djokovic pulled out a towel and unfurled it on the clay. With his orange shirt, he looked almost camouflaged as he lay on his back, before flipping over to his front.

“I slipped a lot and felt pain in the right leg,” Djokovic said. “But I’m not worried about it.”

The sixth-seeded Nadal, who stood out on centre court dressed in electric blue in somewhat gloomy and overcast conditions, was not always at his best during his 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 win over Nicolas Almagro of Spain.

“The score is easier than what the match was like,” said Nadal, who will next play Andrey Kuznetsov for a place in the last 16 after the Russian defeated Austria’s Jurgen Melzer 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-0), 7-5. “My footwork was better. I felt better than during the first round.”

Germany’s Julia Goerges hits a return to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.—AP

The third-seeded Murray beat Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 and will meet 20-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios who enjoyed a walkover into the third round when scheduled opponent Kyle Edmund of Britain withdrew with a stomach injury.

Djokovic will face another Australian, 19-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis who saved three match points to beat his country’s former trailblazer Bernard Tomic 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 8-6 to become the first teenager to reach the third round since Ernests Gulbis in 2008.

Serena, seeking a 20th career major title and third at Roland Garros, dropped her serve four times in her first match against Friedsam, ranked 105th.

The Australian Open champion set up match point when she sent a huge forehand winner from the back of the court and followed that with another big, cross-court forehand winner.

“I know I’m capable of playing great tennis, just haven’t seen it yet,” said Serena, who lost in the second round last year. “My level is literally a hundred times better than I played today.”

Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis celebrates after defeating compatriot Bernard Tomic.—AFP

Serena will next face Victoria Azarenka of Belarus after she beat Czech player Lucie Hradecka 6-2, 6-3.

Also, Francesca Schiavone of Italy beat 18th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (11-13), 7-5, 10-8 in a match that lasted 3 hours, 50 minutes.

At the 2011 Australian Open, Schiavone beat the Russian in the longest women’s match, by time, in Grand Slam history — a 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 contest that lasted 4:44.

The pre-tournament shortlist of favourites for the women’s crown continues to shrink with fifth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark being knocked out by Julia Goerges of Germany 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) , joining the exodus of women’s seeds which includes Romanian third seed Simona Halep, last year’s runner-up, and number six Eugenie Bouchard of Canada.

Fourth seed Petra Kvitova survived her own trial, however, coming back to beat Spain’s Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2 despite 54 unforced errors.

In contrast to the shocks in the women’s draw, the men’s favourites have been largely untroubled with fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan becoming the first player to reach the second week of the tournament.

He was supposed to play Benjamin Becker in the third round on Friday, but Becker pulled out of the tournament because of a muscle tear in his right shoulder.

Other men’s winners included U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia, Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, Pablo Andujar of Spain and Jeremy Chardy of France — who beat 16th-seeded American John Isner.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2015

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