French Open - Men: Nadal cruises into fourth round

Eurosport - Sat, 30 May 14:22:00 2009

World number one Rafael Nadal stitched up a straightforward 6-1 6-3 6-1 victory over Lleyton Hewitt to keep on track his bid for a record fifth consecutive French Open crown.

Rafael Nadal of Spain follows through on a shot during his match against Lleyton Hewitt of Australia at the French Open
REUTERS - 0

What had on paper looked like a interesting third-round match, with Hewitt one of the few players without a losing record against the Spaniard, quickly became a drab affair as the Australian former world number one put up little resistance.

Nadal pocketed the first set in half an hour when the Australian netted a backhand before taking an early break in the second. Hewitt briefly fought back with his own break in the fourth game of the second before letting Nadal regain control.

Nadal's pink shirt and yellow sweatbands were the match's main bright spots as former Wimbledon and US Open champion Hewitt seemed resigned to his fate from the outset, going out to an ace after one hour and 51 minutes.

Nadal will face 23rd seed Robin Soderling in the fourth round after the Swede beat Spanish 13th seed David Ferrer 6-7(5) 7-5 6-2 7-6(5).

World number four Novak Djokovic had earlier booked his place in the third round with a 6-3 6-4 6-1 crushing of Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky.

The Serb, twice a semi-finalist at Roland Garros, will face either German 29th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, who was also forced to return for a set before seeing off former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-7(3) 6-3.

Djokovic ran into a spot of bother in the second set, forced to rally from 4-1 down before the match was interrupted by dusk on Thursday with the Serb two sets up.

Upon resumption, Djokovic peppered the Suzanne Lenglen Court with passing shots and wrapped it up on Stakhovsky's serve after two hours four minutes.

Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco edged closer to another potentially epic Grand Slam showdown with Nadal after taking the hard road to see off compatriot Nicolas Almagro.

Verdasco needed nine match points to defeat the 31st seed Almagro 6-2 7-6(4) 7-6(8) in their third round clash and will next face Russian 10th seed Nikolay Davydenko, a two-time semi-finalist, who saw off Swiss 17th seed Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2.

A win there would give the 25-year-old Verdasco a probable last eight tie with Nadal against whom he lost in five sets in the Australian Open semi-finals this year.

Verdasco, who has never got beyond the fourth round at Roland Garros, also lost to Nadal in the quarter-finals in Rome and Madrid this spring.

Chilean 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez, twice a quarter-finalist and the junior champion in 1998, ended the hopes of French wildcard Josselin Ouanna, who put out Marat Safin in the previous round, with a 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 win.

Gonzalez will take on 30th seed Victor Hanescu, who stunned French seventh seed Gilles Simon 6-4 6-4 6-2, for for a place in the quarter-finals.

French Open: Watch the whole tournament LIVE with coverage starting at 10am every day on British Eurosport and Eurosport HD (Sky 410/412, Virgin Media 521); Or watch your choice of courts on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe.

AFP / Reuters

Comment 37 - 56 of 56

Sort comments by: Most recent
  1. So you are working like a charm also for JJ.. nice :-)­ all your negative towards Serbian players at the and­ transforms in positive.. don’t you see that Ray ?! ;-)­
    I’m really flattered when you call me a number one Fan­ of Novak... really I’m not, believe me - but maybe some­ others don’t have so much nerves to fight against­ ridiculous points here ! I said that I don’t know how­ many. - he will definitely be winning GS-s.. Nadal will­ not stop him, , especially not Murray.. Fed is gone­ long time,.. but I said and you should take this as a­ compliment: Nadal will have the most Sorry AJ, Ashit,­ and other true fans of Fed !

    From Igor K, on Sat 30 May 4:06PM
  2. This is an insult to Djoker from his number one fan.­ You have very little confidence and belief in your guy­ Igor. Djoker will hardly win another GS.

    From Ray V, on Sat 30 May 3:38PM
  3. Well what can i say Rafa played so much better today vs­ Lleyton.Come on Rafa in the final with Roger.

    From AJ, on Sat 30 May 3:38PM
  4. JJ is a joke. Gorht former miss Gajdosova is a cyclist­ that occationally plays tennis. Even a weak Venus can­ take this girl with a single limb. You still didnt­ answer Carlos' question Igor.

    From Ray V, on Sat 30 May 3:34PM
  5. ..and in the meantime, I saw your question..
    yes I­ remember.. I DID answer, please let me quote:
    "..­ but let time show us what will be..­ I can not say have­ much GS-s Novak will win. maybe he­ will win only one­ more, maybe three, maybe five -­ surely he will not­ reach Nadal or Federer by numbers of­ GS-s won.. he has­ his weaknesses.. but in the future­ he will have more­ wins in their clashes between for­ sure ! cose he is­ still raising his game like Murray­ and Del Potro,­ Verdasco from top 10. …Nadal and Fed­ hmm.. Fed is­ deffinitly going down, maybe he catches­ one more GS to­ reach the record, but very hard with­ this level and­ with this opposition.. Nadal is amassing­ mentally and­ stamina.. but is he advancing ?.. he can­ not play­ better then last year I think.... there is­ physical­ limit for such demanding game he is playing,­ even for­ Rafa Nadal"
    so you insisted, I say again...­ satisfied ;-)

    From Igor K, on Sat 30 May 3:33PM
  6. OK JJ is flying high :-)
    ..Yes ..look Ray, Tsonga is­ greater threat to Novak then Federer belive me +­ partisan crowd on RG, Tsonga is favorite.. that’s the­ fact.. why Tsonga ? because he will beat DelPo in front­ of his crowd, he is playing like hell ! I really hope­ I`m wrong, it is much easier Job for Novak then..and­ Fed maybe will not reach semis at all, that is my­ prediction.. will see ..

    From Igor K, on Sat 30 May 3:25PM
  7. How many GS's do you think Djoker will win in his­ tennis career? i think that is the question that­ remains unanswered. We all know who Nadal is, and we­ all know who legitimately defeated him on clay. Fedex­ has a win already against Nadal before Madrid. Nadal­ normally gets exhausted both physically and mentally­ before the RG as he is the only guy that spends most­ time on clay during the entire (pre RG) clay season. To­ say that Djoker is the ONLY person who "does this­ and does that" to Nadal on clay, is completely a­ product of an absurd imagination. You still didnt­ answer Carlos' question.

    From Ray V, on Sat 30 May 3:23PM
  8. AH Ray...
    .. you must admit Novak squeezed Nadal to­ his limits.. Nadal looked totally deformed in third­ set, even more tired that Novak.. and the one who took­ the full advantage of that was Federer.. Novak will­ beat Nadal on Clay next year be sure in that ! in three­ setter now on RG, very very hard ! he has the knowledge­ to play with Nadal more then ever after all their­ clashes he is the one who is learning , not Nadal !
    and­ what question ? ?
    let me enoy in JJ now :-)

    From Igor K, on Sat 30 May 2:59PM
  9. This is not the only occation where i heard from you­ that Djoker is tactically sound than Nadal. Hhhhhmm,­ your guy was close, but is not there yet. If you are­ referring to all their encounters these previous events­ as your basis, Djoker is still a stroke shy. Djoker is­ still winless against Nadal on clay. In Madrid, Nadal­ gave him all the advantage by playing far behind the­ baseline and didnt mix up his game so much. Nadal didnt­ apply occational pressure on the net. Nadal still­ manage to win and the most important part is Nadal was­ able to draw all important pointers from Djoker. Djoker­ has laid down all his cards in that match. Now there is­ a stubborn virus going around called H1N1, hope it will­ not get into Djokers head. Tennis fans in general will­ be upset if we see your guy retire before his demise­ will be fully bestowed upon him. More power to your­ guy. You still didnt answer Carlos' question.

    From Ray V, on Sat 30 May 2:50PM
  10. Ha HA HA Belgrade.. comming to see Universiada :-)­
    Didn’t you read Ray ? I replayed Carlos.. if you mean­ number of GS-s ? Nadal always had my respect and I said­ few times here that after Djoko he is may favorite..­ still when it’s to their clash I’m with all my heart­ for Novak.. I can not be unrealistic to say that Novak­ will beat Nadal on RG, it is almost impossible, but­ only guy who can do impossible against Nadal is Novak..­ Other than clay - Novak is favorite .. wait and see­ for yourself.. Novak is better technical, Nadal more­ stable and stamina ... And for betting on Fed, I hope­ you were not series cose you will lose your money again­ ;-) And the heat.. I hope it is not so hot like in Ausi­ flames.. he will manage, don’t worry.
    Cheers!

    From Igor K, on Sat 30 May 2:14PM
  11. LOL Igor. My worse fear is going to Belgrade. Ive set­ aside already to put my money on Fed in a semi final­ showdown with Djoker, assuming that your guy will get­ past his next three opponent. You refused to answer­ the question that Carlos throw at your sleepy head the­ other day. Did you have a change of heart Igor? you­ seem to nuthug Nadal a lot in your previous comments. I­ saw Djoker has difficulty dealing with the heavy slice­ of his recent opponent Stakhovsky. The weather for the­ next few days will be hot and dry. Hope your guy is all­ squared up for that.

    From Ray V, on Sat 30 May 1:58PM
  12. Djoker is your worst fear Ray .. I know.. don`t be shy­ :-)

    From Igor K, on Sat 30 May 1:22PM
  13. @ Ray V continue to work like a charm :-) You obvioulsy­ helped Ana ;-)

    From Igor K, on Sat 30 May 1:20PM
  14. Even though it is obvious that Nadal is going to defend­ his crown on Roland Garros, Djokovic is the his best­ rival for final match.Their rivarly is becoming­ stronger by every next match, so it is very exciting­ for watching

    From vasereny, on Sat 30 May 12:47PM
  15. If Rafa continues on this form his march to the final­ is a formality.I dont see him losing to anyone on his­ side of the draw,he is to strong.If the draw goes to­ plan and the top four get to the semis,i imagine Nadal­ will be glad Djoko is in the other half.I dont see Andy­ beating Rafa,maybe a set is possible but no more.Would­ be nice to have a 5 set final,whoever is in the­ final(with Rafa).

    From carlos480bc, on Sat 30 May 10:45AM
  16. hewiit is like ferrero, they are not to play at­ professional level. i feel sorry for them,but they are­ dead tennis talking

    From ingenierotitocassiusclay, on Sat 30 May 12:18AM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    just remember Federer's first wimbledon win­ against­ Roddick,the guy then with the most devastating­ serve of­ all time,aces at every corner,devastating­ forehand,and­ Federer, then virtually unknown,actually­ outaced­ him,played faster,outforehanded him,then­ Connors­ coaching Roddick and his jaw dropping at­ Federer's­ game,two finals in Shanguai where Fed­ crushed Gonzales­ who was up til then so­ unbelievable,then the year after­ that Ferrer,crushed­ again by a God of tennis,Blake was­ shaking and smiling­ in disbelief as every Federer's­ shot were from­ another world,oh Dear God i miss that­ Federer.I know­ Time and Nadal conspired to steal him­ from us,now­ it's Nadal's time obviously,and i­ predict a­ Djoko/Rafa final,but honestly.as much as­ Djoko is­ deserving, or some would say Murray,or maybe­ Tsonga­ and next year Ouanna,i still want ,dream,crave­ for Fed­ to be back in full and defy all odds and­ realize the­ impossible,beat Nadal in the final of­ Roland­ Garros,all those in favour ...

    From coolworld, on Sat 30 May 12:15AM
  18. Gonzalez -Hanescu 6-0,6-0,6-0 and­ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD­ BYE!!!!!!!
    NANANANAHEIHEIGOOD BYE!

    From jimmy0connors, on Sat 30 May 12:04AM
  19. If someone benefitted from the delays caused by poor­ lighting that would be no other than the Djoker. He was­ able to get an overnight rest to finish off his­ opponent. Though Djoker has the upper hand, im pretty­ sure he will be calling out for trainers and will be­ giving up his advantage if the the third set was played­ immediately after the first two sets. Too sad that we­ will not see Djoker and Roddick square off on clay, as­ the latter will likely face Fedex. I always love a­ Djoker and Roddick match up. After Robredo (likely­ winner of 4th round match), Djoker will never see­ daylight in RG. i expect Djoker will be too sore after­ a Kholschreiber encounter. Hope Djoker will not get the­ same benefit as he had last night. RG organizers should­ not allow Djoker or any other player for the same­ matter of game delays due to poor lighting (with­ exception of weather condition of coz). If a certain­ match is expected to reach the darkness of a sundown,­ the entire game should be rescheduled for the next day.­ Not fair also for the funs who spent a day off to see a­ complete match.

    From Ray V, on Fri 29 May 10:10PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    There you go, nothing surprising, nothing new. Anyone­ with a little logic in their brain should have expected­ this. Hewitt is the has-been of the has-beens and he­ really should focus on smaller tournament if he wants t­ have a chance (no guaranty) to win anything. He also­ should stop his Van-Dam look and his "come­ on" because who looks like a drug dealer who tries­ to keep pride in front of his killer.

    From Half A Brain, on Fri 29 May 10:09PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account