Federer Wins, Nadal Lines-up Hewitt at French Open
- 327 Comments
It was catch-up day at the French Open following rain on Thursday, with 14 second-round men’s matches and eight third-round matches completed on Friday at Roland Garros.
ADHEREL
There was only one seeded upset on the day out of 21 matches involving seeds, with the Ukraine’s Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. ousting No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
World No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal failed to give up a set between them in their respective matches, with the Swiss defeating German Julian Reister 6-4, 6-0, 6-4, and the Spaniard rolling past tough claycourter Horacio Zeballos 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
Nadal wasn’t overexcited with his game but said he would take the result.
“Is a little bit of improvement,” Nadal said of his overall game. “That’s always important to play a little bit better every day, no? So I did. Today I happy for the victory. Never easy. He’s a good player. He’s a young player and he’s coming well. So it’s a good win for me, and I’m happy for that. But I hope to keep improving.”
Other Top 10-seeded winners were (3) Novak Djokovic subduing Kei Nishikori in straights, (4) Andy Murray over (25) Marcos Baghdatis in four sets, (5) Robin Soderling defeating (29) Al Montanes in four, (7) Fernando Verdasco beating Florent Serra in four, (8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga topping Thiemo De Bakker in four, (9) David Ferrer over Xavier Malisse who retired with a hamstring injury, and (10) Marin Cilic who outlasted Leo Mayer in five sets.
Other seeded winners were (14) Ivan Ljubicic who beat Mardy Fish 10-8 in the fifth, (15) Tomas Berdych who beat (17) John Isner allowing only five games, (16) Juan Carlos Ferrero, (19) Nicolas Almagro, (20) Stan Wawrinka who ended Fabio Fognini’s run in straights, (22) Jurgen Melzer, (24) Thomasz Bellucci who edged Pablo Andujar in five, (28) Lleyton Hewitt who outlasted Denis Isotomin in five, (30) Philipp Kohlschreiber, and (31) Victor Hanescu.
“I got nothing to lose out there,” Hewitt says of facing Nadal next. “It’s a matter of going out there and playing my game, and hopefully I can hit the ball well…He cleaned me up last few times. He’s obviously very dominant, especially on this surface. I’m gonna have to go out there and execute what I want to do, and do it bloody well.”
American Robby Ginepri was the lone unseeded winner on Friday, making good on his earlier upset of Sam Querrey by defeating Italian Potito Starace in four sets.
Saturday’s action for the men includes the highlights (3) Novak Djokovic vs. (31) Victor Hanescu, (2) Rafael Nadal vs. (28) Lleyton Hewitt, (6) Andy Roddick vs. Teimuraz Gabashvili, (7) Fernando Verdasco vs. (30) Philipp Kohlschreiber, (22) Jurgen Melzer vs. (9) David Ferrer, (16) Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. Robby Ginepri, and (14) Ivan Ljubicic vs. (24) Thomaz Bellucci.
You Might Like:
Murray Wins Two, Del Potro v Hewitt Friday At Queen’s; Federer Stars In Halle
Federer, Nadal Lead Top Four in Cincinnati Quarterfinals
Hewitt Overcomes Federer Spell, Wins Halle Title
Lleyton Hewitt Announces He’ll Likely Retire After The 2016 Australian Open
Lucky To Be Walking, Lleyton Hewitt Confident Of Playing The Australian Open