Garbine Muguruza advances into French Open fourth round
Friday 2 June 2017 15:15, UK
Defending champion Garbine Muguruza reached the fourth round of the French Open after beating Yulia Putintseva 7-5 6-2 on Friday.
With pregnant Serena Williams absent, Maria Sharapova denied an invitation and top seed Angelique Kerber a first-round casualty, familiar faces are relatively thin on the ground in Paris, and Muguruza's win was greeted warmly by fans on the Philippe Chatrier court.
The fourth seed has not shown her best form this year but she produced a dogged performance on the main showcourt.
Putintseva, a pocket rocket early in the first set, fizzled out as the contest wore on and Muguruza turned up the power.
The Spaniard raised the decibel level as she nosed in front, teaming each pummeled groundstroke with a loud cry, signalling her determination.
Muguruza closed out victory with an ace, in a match that featured 11 breaks of serve in 20 games played.
"I think the more matches I play and the toughest victories give you self-confidence, a successful feeling out there," she said.
"I think it's important with all the three matches that I played have not been easy at all."
Muguruza will next face French hope Kristina Mladenovic after she battled past Shelby Rogers, coming from 5-2 down in the third set to win 7-5 4-6 8-6.
Latvian teenager Jelena Ostapenko beat Lesia Tsurenko 6-1 6-4 to reach the fourth round of a major for the first time while former French Open finalist Sam Stosur eased through with a 6-2 6-2 win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who made 35 unforced errors.
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