It was a day of mixed fortune for the seeds at the French Open. Tomas Berdych and Nick Kyrgios bowed out while Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori moved on to the next round.
World #1 Andy Murray had to sweat it out against Slovakia’s Martin Klizan. The Brit lost the first set as he looked out of sorts in a first set tiebreak. But he regained his form and went on to win the match 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(3). He will now face a familiar foe, Juan Martin Del Potro, in the next round. Del Potro won against an injured Nicolas Almagro. Score was tied at 6-3, 3-6, 1-1 when Almagro held his knee in pain and was forced to withdraw. Del Potro showed great sportsmanship and consoled his tearful opponent as he went to the other side of the net and comforted him. In this blockbuster match against Murray, fireworks can be expected.
Wawrinka and Nishikori march on
In other matches, Wawrinka too was made to work a little against Alexandr Dolgopolov. The 3rd seed won the first set easily but was tested in the second one as it was taken to a tiebreak which he won. In the third set he carried on and won it 7-5. The third seed will now face Fabio Fognini in the next round. Fognini defeated countryman Andreas Seppi 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
8th seed Kei Nishikori showed great display and fended off the challenge of local hope Jeremy Chardy as he marched on 6-3, 6-0, 7-6. He goes on to face the Korean Hyeon Chung in Asian derby, who beat Denis Istomin, 6-1, 7-5, 6-1.
It was a big blow for two seeds on day five. 13th seed Berdych was beaten 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 by 21-year-old, unseeded Karen Khachanov. Khachanov, playing his first French Open, continued his monumental run by beating the Czech in straight sets. 18th seed Nick Kyrgios followed. The 22-year-old Australian’s hopes were dashed as he lost to Kevin Anderson 7-5, 4-6, 1-6, 2-6. It looked business as usual for Kyrgios as he won the first set, but his run was ended in the next three.
7th seed Marin Cilic had it easy on his racquet for the day. He comfortably beat Konstantin Kravchuk 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Gael Monfils, Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez, Kyle Edmund, John Isner and Pablo Cuevas also registered wins and moved on to the next round.
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