Paris: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal moved to within one win of a French Open quarter-final blockbuster yesterday as the sport’s next generation endured a Grand Slam reality check.
World number one and top seed Djokovic reached the last-16 for the sixth straight year with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over 19-year-old Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Defending champion Nadal, chasing a 10th title in Paris, brushed aside Russian world number 120 Andrey Kuznetsov, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
Third-seeded Andy Murray, twice a semi-finalist, was also untroubled as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kokkinakis’s 20-year-old compatriot Nick Kyrgios.
It was a chastening day for the sport’s youngsters at Roland Garros with Kokkinakis and Kyrgios joined at the exit door by 18-year-old Croatian Borna Coric, defeated by Amercia’s Jack Sock, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
Djokovic, bidding for a first Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam, will face French 20th seed Richard Gasquet for a quarter-final place.
Gasquet, one of five Frenchman to make the last-16, saw off 15th seed Kevin Anderson 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 6-4 despite the South African hitting 22 aces and 62 winners.
Djokovic fired 34 winners and didn’t face a single break point in his one-hour, 49-minute win over highly-rated wildcard Kokkinakis.
“Thanasi has a lot of talent and strength. He is still a teenager and he has plenty of time to do great things,” said Djokovic after winning his 25th successive match this season.
“I hope he does as he has a lot of qualities.”
Nine-time champion Nadal reached the fourth round courtesy of eight breaks of the Kuznetsov serve.
Nadal will tackle unseeded Sock who, at 22, became the youngest American man to make the last-16 since Pete Sampras in 1993.
“I am playing more solid and am more consistent with each match,” said sixth-seeded Nadal, who took his Paris record to 69 wins against just one loss.
Kyrgios, the 29th seed and bidding to add a first French Open last-16 place to his runs to the 2014 Wimbledon and 2015 Australian Open quarter-finals, wasn’t helped by requiring a medical timeout for an elbow injury late in the second set against Murray.
Murray, who fired 12 aces and 45 winners while Kyrgios was undone by 37 unforced errors, goes on to face unseeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy who surprised 17th seeded Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Meanwhile, world number one Serena Williams dug deep to advance into the last 16 of the French Open with a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win against Belarussian 27th seed Victoria Azarenka yesterday.
Williams, the champion at Roland Garros in 2002 and 2013, trailed for much of the match, but battled back from a 4-2 deficit in the second set to storm home and set up an all-American clash with Sloane Stephens. The 19-times grand slam champion made a slow start, hitting a flurry of unforced errors as Azarenka took charge.
But she found her stride late in the second to take the upper hand against former world number one Azarenka. Williams fell 2-0 behind in the decider on Court Philippe Chatrier, but reeled off six games in a row, sealing victory with a rasping crosscourt forehand. Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova powered into the last 16.
The fourth seed from the Czech Republic, finally found her form to outplay Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-2 in just 58 minutes, taking the last five games at a canter. AGENCIES
