Daniil Medvedev makes light work of Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic to reach the second week of this year's French Open; he is joined in the next round by fellow Russian Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and 11th seed Jannik Sinner
Saturday 28 May 2022 21:42, UK
Second seed Daniil Medvedev raced into the fourth round of the French Open thanks to a comfortable straight-sets win against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.
The Russian won in clinical style 6-2 6-4 6-2 in under two hours as he aims to win the second Grand Slam title of his career.
"It was magnificent today. I did not have my serve broken," said Medvedev, who arrived at the French Open with only one match on clay under his belt after undergoing a procedure to treat a hernia in April. "On this surface it is quite unusual. Hopefully there are more such matches for me next week.
"Like in my French, I try to do better in my tennis all the time. The better I learn French the better my tennis will become."
Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas thrashed Sweden's Mikael Ymer 6-2 6-2 6-1 in a lopsided contest to canter through.
"Lot of good rallies from my side. We have a history, playing Mike from the juniors. We played each other a lot," said Tsitsipas, who lost just 10 points on serve and hit 24 winners en route to his ATP Tour-best 34th victory this year. He also improved to 17-3 on clay.
"It was a good game for myself. I think I played really well and topped it off with some pretty good, patient tennis."
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev saved five set points in a lengthy fourth-set tiebreak to beat Cristian Garin 6-4 3-6 6-2 7-6 (13-11) in just over three hours.
Rublev will take on 11th seed Jannik Sinner in the next round after the Italian saved 11 set points in a gruelling 90-minute second set to clinch a 6-3 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory over American Mackenzie McDonald.
"Both of us were not feeling well on court but very happy to be through," Sinner said.
"I don't feel 100 per cent that's for sure," added Sinner, who played with his left knee strapped. "I don't want to talk about it. But I served well, and I broke him early in the third set."
Eighth seed Casper Ruud battled back from two sets to one down to beat Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 6-2 6-7 1-6 6-4 6-3 and take his place in the fourth round of the French Open for the first time.
Sonego hit back from losing the first set and ended up with 62 winners to Ruud's 39 in the three-and-a-half-hour duel but the Norwegian weathered the storm and will now face 12th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the last 16.
Young pretender Carlos Alcaraz insists he is ready to break the stranglehold of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the French Open.
The last six Roland Garros titles have gone to the gilded duo with Djokovic the defending champion and Nadal, a 13-time winner, the undisputed king of clay.
But 19-year-old Alcaraz is seen as the heir apparent and many are even tipping him to dethrone the big two at this year's tournament.
Djokovic and Nadal are seeded to meet in a blockbuster quarter-final with Alcaraz, the sixth seed, on course to meet the winner in the semis.
"Well, I just, if I am winning, I'll just play against one of them," he said. "I think I'm ready."
Alcaraz beat both Djokovic and Nadal, as well as world No 3 Alexander Zverev, on his way to the Madrid title earlier this month.
"It's different to play against them (here)," added the young Spaniard. "I mean in the Masters 1,000 or another tournament it's best of three rather than in a Grand Slam, but I would say I'm ready."
Alcaraz takes on Russian 21st seed Karen Khachanov, who beat Britain's Cameron Norrie on Friday night, in the fourth round.
"Well, I just practiced with him just once, but I watched other matches from him, so I know that it's going to be a tough match," he said.
"But at the same time as well as he's a tough opponent, I like those matches."
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