Saturday 28 May 2016 09:08, UK
French Open defending champion Stan Wawrinka eased into the fourth round at Roland Garros with a comfortable 6-4 6-3 7-5 win over Jeremy Chardy on Friday.
The Swiss No 3 seed came out on court shortly after nine-times champion Rafael Nadal unexpectedly pulled out of the tournament suffering from a left wrist injury.
But there was little chance of Wawrinka following the Spaniard out of the Paris Grand Slam as he made light work of dispatching Chardy.
He broke the hapless Frenchman on five occasions to secure a place in the last-16 for the sixth time in his career.
Elsewhere, Kei Nishikori will face Richard Gasquet in the last-16 of the French Open after a hard-fought win over Fernando Verdasco.
The Japanese fifth seed was extended to five sets by the spirited Verdasco before closing out a 6-3 6-4 3-6 2-6 6-4 win over the Spaniard.
Gasquet enjoyed a more comfortable victory over the subdued Nick Kyrgios, who appeared to be hampered by a shoulder problem in a 6-2 7-6 6-2 defeat to the Frenchman.
Nishikori is trying to improve on last year's run to the quarter-finals, his best performance in six appearances in Paris, and already holds two clay court wins over Gasquet in Rome and Madrid this year.
But the French ninth seed is yet to drop a set since the start of the clay court tournament and utilised his trademark backhand in a one-sided win over Kyrgios.
The Australian committed 44 unforced errors as he struggled to contain the home favourite.
Eighth seed Milos Raonic is also safely through to the next stage after a 7-66-2 6-3 win over Andrej Martin.
