Djokovic, Thiem Set Meeting; Murray v Khachanov Monday at French Open
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No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 6 Dominic Thiem set up a mouthwatering quarterfinal meeting on Sunday with straight-set wins at the French Open.
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“I hope [coach] Andre [Agassi] only saw the second and third sets,” Djokovic joked in his post-match interview. “I didn’t start off the blocks the way I wanted. He started very solid, but it was very close in the first set.”
Djokovic held off an early attack from No. 19 seed Alberto Ramos Vinolas 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-3, and Thiem bullied Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.
“I was enjoying basically every second of the match,” said Thiem. “The claycourt I’m feeling great on. And then also the conditions here are almost perfect for my game. I like the balls a lot. I think you really feel the balls with the racquet.”
Tournament favorite and No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal was also an easy winner Sunday, defeating No. 17-seeded Spanish countryman Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1 6-2 6-2. He will next meet another Spaniard, No. 20 Pablo Carreno Busta, who was an upset five-set 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-4, 8-6 winner over No. No. 5 seed Milos Raonic.
“Is difficult to explain you my emotions at the end of the match,” said Carreno Busta, who tear-up speaking to the crowd after ousting Raonic. “It was the best victory of my career, in one of the best moments and the best places. This match you dream when you are young: playing Roland Garros, five sets, four hours and a half. It was really tough — really tough. But I just tried to do my best. I enjoyed — I suffer, but I enjoyed. And of course if you win, you enjoy more.”
Carreno Busta said he looks forward to playing to friend Nadal.
“t will be a really special match for me,” Carreno Busta said. “I will try to enjoy this match and learn a lot. I will play against the best. And then we’ll see — maybe I play and I lose easy or maybe I play and I win easy. You never know.”
Another Top 10 seed going the distance was No. 8 Kei Nishikori, who came back from getting bageled in the fourth set to defeat South Korea’s Chung Hyeon 7-5, 6-4, 6-7(4), 0-6, 6-4. In his next outing in the fourth round he will meet unseeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
No. 15 Gael Monfils benefited when No. 24 seed and French countryman Richard Gasquet retired trailing 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-3.
“I had had back problems for the past two, three weeks with a kind of neuralgia in the leg, no sensation in the thigh,” Gasquet said. “It’s very painful, but my back is better. I did my best for this neuralgia to disappear. I think the nerve is probably still a bit irritated. I tried as much as I could, but towards the middle of the second set I understood it was going to be very hard. I’m disappointed, but I simply couldn’t go on any longer.”
Monfils’ reward is a meeting with No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka.
Unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov was also a winner, powering past No. 21 John Isner in four tight sets 7-6(1), 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-6(3).
Matches scheduled for Monday at Roland Garros are (1) Murray vs. Khachanov, (3) Wawrinka vs. (15) Monfils, and (8) Nishikori vs. Verdasco.
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