Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
PARIS: World No. 1 Naomi Osaka and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams both bowed out from the French Open women's singles third round, while men's top-positioned Novak Djokovic met little resistance in securing his last 16 berth here on Saturday.
In her first appearance as the top seed at a Grand Slam, the 21-year-old Osaka lost to Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2, meaning that her dream of winning the third straight Grand Slam title and a 16-match winning streak at Grand Slams came to a conclusion.
"It would go from 1 to 10 and I'm like at a 100 right now," Osaka mentioned her tremendous disappointment.
Osaka is set to maintain the top ranking after the tournament despite her elimination, guaranteed by last challenger Karolina Pliskova's exit a day earlier.
Siniakova, on the other hand, reached last 16 in a Grand Slam for the first time in career. She will next face 14th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States. Williams, in quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title, conceded a 6-2, 7-5 loss to fellow American Sofia Kenin.
"I feel in the first set in particular, she hit pretty much inches from the line, and I haven't played anyone like that in a long time. She actually played really well," admitted Williams.
The 20-year-old Kenin, who made her second main draw apperance in the tournament, will compete against No. 8 seed Ashleigh Barty for a quarterfinals spot.
But it was not a shocking day for third seed Simona Halep in her title defense. The Romanian romped into round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Lesia Tsurenko.
Djokovic sailed through the men's singles third round by taming Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
"He actually surprised me with his game. I had to change my tactics quite a bit throughout the match. Midway through the match I kind of stepped it up a little bit, and took my game to a different level, which then resulted in an easier third set," Djokovic pointed out.
The Serbian will meet Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, who edged No. 13 seed Borna Coric through a five-set thriller by winning the decider 11-9.
The fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev was made to work through another five-setter by Dusan Lajovic at 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2.
Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Juan Martin del Potro also made into the next round.
China's Xu Yifan partnered with Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada to defeat Han Xinyun and Wang Yafan, both Chinese, 6-1, 6-1 in women's doubles second round. Australian Open winners Zhang Shuai and Samantha Stosur also marched on, but Yang Zhaoxuan and Poland's Alicja Rosolska went out. Caption Novak Djokovic of Serbia greets the audience after winning the men's singles third round match against Salvatore Caruso of Italy at French Open tennis tournament 2019 at Roland Garros, in Paris, France on June 1, 2019. Novak Djokovic won 3-0.
