Paris — Rafael Nadal appears to be getting stronger and stronger at the French Open, advancing to the fourth round of the tournament with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win over Croatian qualifier Antonio Veic yesterday.
The five-time champion at Roland Garros needed five sets to win his opening match, and was then pushed to tiebreaker in the deciding third set of his next match. But against Veic, Nadal had only 18 unforced errors and managed to break his opponent nine times.
Andy Murray also moved into the next round despite an injury scare in the second set when he twisted his right ankle. He eventually beat Michael Berrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
On the women’s side, Australian Open finalist Li Na also reached the fourth round, defeating Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 6-2.
Wozniacki ousted
Late Friday, top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki’s quest for a first major title was derailed when she was beaten by Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 6-3 in the third round.
The Dane has been No. 1 in the WTA rankings for almost the entire season but never really challenged her Slovak opponent on Court Suzanne Lenglen, having her serve broken five times.
Later Saturday, Novak Djokovic was to return to the court to face Juan Martin del Potro. The pair started their match Friday, splitting the opening two sets, but it was suspended because of darkness. Three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova was also scheduled to be on court.
Nadal has been dominant at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005, when he won the first of four straight titles. His only loss at the clay-court Grand Slam came in 2009, when he was defeated by Robin Soderling in the fourth round.
But this year, Nadal started off with a bit of wobble, needing five sets to beat John Isner. In the second round, Nadal defeated Pablo Andujar 7-6 (4) in the third set.
On Court Suzanne Lenglen, Murray was playing Berrer when he twisted his right ankle and dropped to the ground in pain.
Murray will next face Victor Troicki of Serbia, who beat No. 21 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The sixth-seeded Li, who this year became the first Chinese player to get to the final at a major tournament, will next face No. 9 Petra Kvitova. Li has made at least the quarterfinals at the other three Grand Slam tournaments, but she has never progressed past the fourth round at Roland Garros.
Kvitova defeated Vania King of the United States 6-4, 6-2, while fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus also advanced, beating No. 30 Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-3, 6-2.