Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic earn places in the last 16 at Roland Garros after respective four-set victories on Friday. Headlines were also made by Ernests Gulbis and a women’s match between Angelique Kerber and Daniela Hantuchova.
Roger Federer is through to the last 16 at Roland Garros after holding off Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4 on Friday. Federer became the first man to reach the French Open fourth round on 12 occasions. He is joined there by Novak Djokovic–a four-set winner over Marin Cilic–and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who thrashed Jerzy Janowicz in straight sets.
“At the start of my career, clay was not my favorite surface,” Federer reflected. “I got my best results in indoor courts or hard courts, so people thought at that time that I was only a fast-court player. But that’s not the case, so I’m very happy with this record, and I’m enjoying it.”
Next up for the 32-year-old Swiss is Ernests Gulbis, who was at the forefront of a controversial day in Paris. Gulbis destroyed Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in less than two hours, saving the drama for the press room. When asked if he wanted his two younger sisters to become professional tennis players, the Latvian delivered this:
“Hopefully they will not pursue professional tennis career. Hopefully. Because for a woman, it’s tough. I wouldn’t like my sisters to become professional tennis players. It’s tough choice of life. A woman needs to enjoy life a little bit more. Needs to think about family, needs to think about kids. What kids you can think about until age of 27 if you’re playing professional tennis, you know. That’s tough for a woman, I think.”
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Speaking of women, No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska went down to Ajla Thomljanovic. For the first time in any of the four Grand Slams during the Open Era, every one of the top three women’s seeds is out prior to the fourth round.
But perhaps an even bigger story came in the the Angelique Kerber vs. Daniela Hantuchova match, when the chair umpire incorrectly awarded a point to Kerber. A shot by the German had been called out, to which Hantuchova responded by hitting back over the net, in the court of play. The mark showed the ball to be in, however, and for no apparent reason, Kerber was given the point.
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