Rafael Nadal eased into the fourth round of the French Open with a comfortable victory over Lleyton Hewitt.
Djokovic, Verdasco progress while Ginepri stuns Ferrero
Rafael Nadal eased into the fourth round of the French Open with a comfortable straight sets victory over Lleyton Hewitt.
The second-seed, chasing his fifth Roland Garros title, booked his spot in the second week of the Paris Grand Slam with a 6-3 6-4 6-3 success over the 28th seeded Australian on a chilly Saturday afternoon on Court Phillippe Chatrier.
Hewitt, who must be sick of the sight of the Mallorcan in the French capital after now losing to him in his last four visits, rocked the Spaniard by breaking in the opening game, but Nadal hit back immediately and gradually cranked up the pressure.
Hewitt stood toe-to-toe with Nadal in some spellbinding baseline rallies, at one point prompting a forehand winner from the Spaniard which saw him roll over on his back into the red Parisian clay after executing the shot.
The end came after two hours and 28 minutes when Hewitt pelted a backhand long and Brazilian 24th seed Thomaz Belluci awaits Nadal in the fourth round after sweeping past 14th seed Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-4
Stumble
Third seed Novak Djokovic, who was knocked out in the third round last year, made hard work of beating Victor Hanescu to stumble into the last 16 at Roland Garros.
The Serbian recovered from a second set slump to oust the Romanian number 31 seed 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2.
Next in line for two-time semi-finalist Djokovic is unseeded American Robby Ginepri who overcame former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in five sets, beating the Spanish number 16 seed 7-5 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-4 on Court 1.
Seventh seed Fernando Verdasco is also through to round four after outlasting German 30th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber 2-6 6-3 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 6-4 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Verdasco, who was struggling with a foot injury throughout the marathon five-setter, will meet compatriot Nicolas Almagro for a place in the quarter-finals after the 19th seed had no such difficulty ending the run of Alexandr Dolgopolov Jr - who took out 2009 semi-finalist Fernando Gonzalez in the last round -winning 6-3 6-3 6-4.
