Nadal Advances At French Open
Rafael Nadal’s historic match victory Thursday at the French Open was news to him.
Only seven players in men’s tennis history have won more Grand Slam matches than Nadal, who scored his 200th in a 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 effort over Facundo Bagnis in Paris. The win pushes Nadal into the third round against fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers, who is 0-4 against Nadal with four straight sets losses.
“I didn’t know,” Nadal said of his 200th Grand Slam match win. “For me the most important thing today was the victory. It is another number, that’s it.”
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic also advanced to the third round as he defeated Belguim’s Steve Darcis 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. It was the Serbian’s 50th career victory at Roland Garros.
In women’s singles, top-seeded American Serena Williams needed a mere 66 minutes for a victory over 81st-ranked Teliana Pereira of Brazil 6-2, 6-1. Sister Venus Williams, seeded ninth, rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over American qualifier Louisa Chirico.
Four more wins at the French Open would push Nadal past Pete Sampras, who is seventh on the Grand Slam match wins list (203). Roger Federer, notably absent this week due to a back injury, leads the all-time list at 302.
If Nadal reaches the semifinals he could face Djokovic, who has 217 match wins in Grand Slams and needs a title win at Roland Garros to complete the career Grand Slam.
Djokovic will face Britain’s Alijaz Bedene in the third round. Bedene defeated Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (4), 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-2.
“We practiced a bit in Monte Carlo and a couple of other places. He’s a good guy, very talented and a quick motion for his first serve,” Djokovic said of Bedene. “He doesn’t have anything to lose and I’m sure he’ll give it his all. I just hope I can sustain the pressure that comes from him and enjoy my time on the court.”
In other men’s seeded matches, sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France rallied to post a 6-7 (6), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, and seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych was a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 winner over Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri.
Eleventh-seeded David Ferrer of Spain defeated Argentina’s Juan Monaco 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; 12th-seeded David Goffin of Belguim swept Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq 7-5, 6-1, 6-4; 13th-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria knocked off Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (3), and 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain beat France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-1.
Croatia’s Borna Coric upset 20th-seeded Australian Bernard Tomic 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6); 21st-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain defeated Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 6-3, 7-6 (8), 6-3; 25th-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay was a 7-6 (4), 6-3, 7-6 winner over France’s Quentin Halys, and Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis stunned 26th-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.
In other women’s seeded matches, eighth-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 win over Canadian Eugenie Bouchard; No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain swept China’s Qiang Wang 6-1, 6-3, and Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic, seeded 14th, reached the third round with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Japan’s Kurumi Nara.
No. 15-seeded American Madison Keys knocked off Colombia’s Mariana Duque Marino 6-3, 6-2; No. 18 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine rolled past American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-0, and 22nd-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia prevailed over Croatia’s Ana Konjuh 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.
Also, 26th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic defeated Timea Babos of Hungary 6-4, 6-3; Russia’s Yulia Putintseva upset 28th-seeded German Andrea Petkovic 6-2, 6-2, and 29th-seeded Darya Kasatkina of Russia knocked off France’s Virginie Razzano 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
