PARIS: Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the fourth round at the French Open for the second year in a row. The Greek advanced when Aljaz Bedene stopped playing in the third set because of an injured right ankle.

Tsitsipas led 6-1, 6-2, 3-1 when Bedene retired. Tsitsipas was dominating the match. He had more than twice as many winners as Bedene, 28-13, and about a third as many unforced errors.

Also into the last-16 round on Saturday was No. 30 seed Ons Jabeur. She became the first Arab woman to get that far in Paris by eliminating No. 8 Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 6-3.

Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin went through to the fourth round and Zhang Shuai became China’s first player to get that far since Li Na in 2012.

No. 4 seed Kenin blew past Romanian qualifier Irina Bara 6-2, 6-0 in 72 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Zhang ended the run of French wild-card entry Clara Burel with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 win in two hours, 12 minutes on Court Simonne Mathieu.

The 31-year-old Zhang is ranked 39th and had never made it beyond the third round in her nine previous French Opens.

Kenin has advanced to the second week of all three Grand Slams in this pandemic-hit season. She won the Australian Open and reached round four at the US Open.

Germany’s Daniel Altmaier is proving to be a force that’s difficult to stop. He came through the qualifying tournament to reach the French Open main draw.

The 22-year-old has now upset seventh-seeded Matteo Berrettini to storm into the fourth round with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win.

The 186th ranked Altmaier joins two other Roland Garros debutants Sebastian Korda and Jannik Sinner in round four. That many men haven’t gone that far on their debuts at Roland Garros since four debutants made the last 16 in 1994.

Altmaier has struggled with injuries in the past but has yet to drop a set. He has won all three tiebreakers he has faced in his Grand Slam debut. He also only dropped one set in his three matches in qualifying.

Andrey Rublev advanced to the men’s singles fourth round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win against the unseeded South African Kevin Anderson.

The 34-year-old Anderson still dreams of a Grand Slam title, having lost finals to Rafael Nadal at the US Open in 2017 and to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2018.

But the 118th-ranked veteran proved to be easy pickings for the No. 13 seed Rublev on Court Simonne Mathieu. He failed to earn even a single break point against the 22-year-old Russian.

Rublev lost in the first round in his only previous appearance at Roland Garros in 2017. He was a quarterfinalist at the US Open this year and in 2017.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal charged into the last-16 round late on Friday and took another confident stride towards equalling Roger Federer’s record of 20 major titles while a crop of rising youngsters offered tantalising glimpses of their potential.

The 12-time Roland Garros champion dispatched Italian world No. 74 Stefano Travaglia 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 in just 95 minutes, notching his 96th victory at the tournament.

Nadal next faces 213th-ranked American qualifier Sebastian Korda, the son of 1998 Australian Open champion and 1992 French Open runner-up Petr Korda, for a quarter-final spot.

The 20-year-old Korda beat Pedro Martinez in straight sets to become the first man outside the top 200 to make the last 16 in Paris since France’s Arnaud di Pasquale in 2002.

Hugo Gaston, also 20, quickly became the second such lowly-ranked man in the fourth round when the world number 239 shocked 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in a rain-interrupted tie.

Gaston goes on to play US Open winner Dominic Thiem, the runner-up to Nadal in Paris the past two years. At 19, Italian teenager Jannik Sin­ner is the youngest player to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros since Novak Djokovic in 2006.

Last year’s Next Gen champion made the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time by beating Federico Coria 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.

He will meet the US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev after the German sixth seed ended the run of qualifier and 2018 semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato in three sets.

Results on Saturday (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

Third round: 17-Pablo Carreno-Busta (Spain) bt 10-Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain) 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4; Daniel Altmaier (Germany) bt 7-Matteo Berrettini (Italy) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; 13-Andrey Rublev (Russia) bt Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.

Women’s singles:

Third round: 30-Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) bt 8-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 6-3; 4-Sofia Kenin (US) bt Irina Maria Bara (Romania) 6-2, 6-0; Zhang Shuai (China) bt Clara Burel (France) 7-6 (7-2), 7-5.

Friday’s remaining results:

Men’s singles:

Third round: Lorenzo Sonego (Italy) bt 27-Taylor Fritz (US) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 7-6 (19-17); 12-Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) bt Norbert Gombos (Slovakia) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-3; Hugo Gaston (France) bt 16-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0; 6-Alexander Zverev (Germany) bt Marco Cecchinato (Italy) 6-1, 7-5, 6-3; Jannik Sinner (Italy) bt Federico Coria (Argentina) 6-3, 7-5, 7-5; Sebastian Korda (US) bt Pedro Martinez (Spain) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1; 2-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Stefano Travaglia (Italy) 6-1, 6-4, 6-0.

Women’s singles:

Third round: Martina Trevisan (Italy) bt 20-Maria Sakkari (Greece) 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; 5-Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) bt Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) 6-2, 6-2; Caroline Garcia (France) bt 16-Elise Mertens (Belgium) 1-6, 6-4, 7-5; Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic) bt Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2020