Murray, Wawrinka set up semi-final duel as Djokovic hits $100m

PARIS, France -- Andy Murray and defending champion Stan Wawrinka set up a mouthwatering French Open semi-final duel Wednesday as Novak Djokovic became the first player to smash the $100 million prize money barrier.

Second seed Murray reached the semi-finals in Paris for a fourth time by battling back to defeat the last home hope Richard Gasquet 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-0, 6-2.

Wawrinka, the 31-year-old third seed, became the oldest man since 1985 to reach the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) win over Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Gasquet, bidding to end France's 33-year-wait for a French champion, reeled off five straight games to recover from 5-2 down and claim the opening set in front of a raucous Philippe Chatrier Court crowd.

But former US Open and Wimbledon champion Murray won a second set tie-break before claiming 12 of the next 14 games.

Murray leads his head-to-head 8-7 with Wawrinka but the Swiss star has won their last three meetings as well as their only two matches on clay.

"Stan's played great tennis here the past couple years. It's going to be extremely tough, hopefully I can play my best tennis and try and reach my first final here," said Murray after a third win in Paris over Gasquet.

Wawrinka is the oldest semi-finalist in Paris since 32-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1985.

He was in complete control against world number 55 Ramos-Vinolas, playing in his first quarter-finals at the majors, firing an impressive 49 winners.

"Overall, I played a good match with an incredible level in the first two sets," said Wawrinka.

"I had to dig deep to finish the match. To win in three sets, it's ideal."

Wawrinka, who beat Djokovic in last year's final, will be playing in only his second Roland Garros semi-final.

Top seed Djokovic reached the quarter-finals for the 10th time by defeating 14th seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5.

It was a tie which started the previous afternoon after rain disruptions had washed out Monday and allowed just two hours of play Tuesday.

The 29-year-old Serb will on Thursday take on Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, who beat Spanish 11th seed David Ferrer 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

- Stranglehold -

Djokovic has a 23-2 career stranglehold on Berdych who will be playing in his third Roland Garros quarter-final.

It will be the top seed's 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final and 36th in all.

Djokovic also crossed the $100 million prize money barrier on Wednesday.

He started the tournament with $99,673,404 and the 294,000 euros ($328,303) he earned by beating Bautista Agut took him past the landmark figure.

Djokovic, seeking a first French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, was 4-1 ahead of Bautista Agut in the third set Tuesday when play was halted.

But the Serb quickly wrapped up the next two games Wednesday and despite falling a break down to trail 2-4 in the fourth, he stormed back to claim victory on a second match point.

"With my coaching team, we had some tough talks on Tuesday night," said Djokovic, who had struggled in the heavy conditions when he had uncharacteristically dropped serve five times.

"But I came back with more intensity even though it was a tough mental and physical battle."

Austria's Dominic Thiem advanced to his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1, 6-4 win over Spain's Marcel Granollers.

Granollers had made the last 16 without hitting a ball when nine-time champion Rafael Nadal withdrew with a wrist injury last week.

Rain halted play at one set apiece on Tuesday, but 13th seed Thiem quickly found his groove on Wednesday to race through the third set before nailing down a place in the last eight.

The 22-year-old will next meet Belgian 12th seed David Goffin who saw off Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in another match held over from Tuesday.

"We practise a lot together and he's also a very nice guy," said Thiem, who trails Goffin 4-2 including a loss at the Australian Open this year.

Goffin is only the second Belgian man to reach the last eight in Paris.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

French Open organizers under fire as backlog grows

PARIS - Fans spent more time looking at the murky Parisian sky than watching tennis on Tuesday as French Open organizers were accused of "not caring about the players" after the event was disrupted by more rain following the previous day's washout.

Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych summed up everyone's frustration on a day when nine hours of play was lost by tweeting: "Hey @AustralianOpen can you send us one roof here to Paris?! You have 3 down there."

Hey @AustralianOpen can you send us one roof here to paris?! You have 3down there #fedexmakeithappen #now 🤔🌧🙏🏻✔️

— Tomáš Berdych (@tomasberdych) May 31, 2016

The inability to play under cover, with Roland Garros being the only one of the four grand slam venues that does not have a court with a retractable roof, certainly proved costly for Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep -- fourth-round losers in the only two matches that were completed on day 10.


With the fixture list piling up, the women in top seed Serena Williams' half of the draw would now need to play on four successive days to win the title if the final takes place on Saturday as scheduled -- though more rain is forecast.

World number one Novak Djokovic and the men in his half of the draw, including Berdych, can also forget about enjoying the traditional rest days between each round as they would have to play on four of the next five days to contest Sunday's final.

Radwanska, the world number two, and 2014 runner-up Halep --who both started their last-16 matches on Sunday -- were forced to play in misty rain on Tuesday as organisers made a desperate attempt to clear the huge backlog.

"No one cares about the players in my opinion," sixth seed Halep said after she was beaten 7-6(0) 6-3 by Australian Sam Stosur in a battle of former finalists.

"It was impossible to play. To play tennis matches during the rain is a bit too much. I was close to getting injured with my back... but no one cares."

Radwanska had been leading Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 3-0 when rain halted play on Sunday.

When the match resumed more than 40 hours later, the Polish second seed suffered a monumental meltdown as she lost 10 successive games in a 2-6 6-3 6-3 defeat by an opponent ranked 100 places below her.

"I'm just so surprised and angry that we have to play in the rain. I mean, it's not a $10,000 tournament. It's a grand slam," said Radwanska, the highest seed to exit the tournament.

"How can you allow players to play in the rain? I cannot play in that condition. They really don't care what we think."

BACK TO THE LOCKER ROOM

Ernests Gulbis and David Goffin did get on court for their fourth round showdown but took matters into their own hands by marching back into the locker room even before organisers had a chance to make a call.

It was a decision that Halep welcomed. "Good. Well done to them," the Romanian said as she gave them a thumbs-up.

While matches at the three other majors -- Wimbledon (grass), Australian and U.S. Opens (both hardcourts) -- are halted at the first sight of any raindrops, the brittle claycourt surface at Roland Garros means competitors are often told to play on in drizzle.

Roger Federer did just that in the 2009 men's final when he beat Robin Soderling to win his solitary French Open trophy.

Unsurprisingly, Pironkova did not think Tuesday's conditions were unplayable, though she acknowledged they were far from ideal.

"Well, it's happened before, of course. We have played in all sorts of conditions," said the Bulgarian, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2010.

"Usually if the court is not fit for play, like if it's slippery, they would cancel the match right away. But today the court was still hanging in, it was okay. We could have played, and so we did."

Radwanska and Halep's exit meant that at least five of the top eight women's seeds failed to make their allotted quarter-final spots.

Only two of 10 scheduled matches were completed as the claycourt major suffered its sixth day of showers, with Djokovic -- leading Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6 6-4 4-1 -- one of 16 players still stranded in the fourth round.

(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by John Stonestreet)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Murray, Wawrinka into last-eight, Gasquet sees off Nishikori

PARIS, France -- World number two Andy Murray and defending champion Stan Wawrinka reached the French Open quarter-finals Sunday as Richard Gasquet kept alive hopes of a first home triumph in 33 years by knocking out Japan's Kei Nishikori.

Murray made the last-eight for the sixth time with a 7-6 (11/9), 6-4, 6-3 win over John Isner of the United States.

The 29-year-old, a three-time semi-finalist, will face Gasquet, the last French player standing, in the last-eight.

Murray has a 7-3 career lead over the 29-year-old Gasquet, including wins at Roland Garros in 2010 and 2012.

Gasquet outplayed fifth seed Nishikori 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

The ninth seed had trailed Nishikori 2-4 early in the first set, but after an hour-long rain delay, he won nine out of the next 10 games to turn the match on its head.

"I started badly, but everyone helped me and it was difficult for Nishikori to play against that," he said.

"He re-started badly (after the rain) and that gave me confidence to play my game and go for my shots."

The last French winner of the men's singles title at Roland Garros was Yannick Noah in 1983.

Murray will be playing in his 20th quarter-final at the last 21 majors after braving an Isner storm in the first set where he faced down three set points in the tie-breaker.

Isner was bidding to become the first American man in the last-eight in Paris since Andre Agassi in 2003.

- Rain delay -

Having not allowed Murray a single break point, the 31-year-old squandered the three set points before the British star pounced to pocket the opener.

Rain forced the pair off Suzanne Lenglen court for an hour with Murray 2-1 ahead in the second set before Isner was broken for the first time in the 10th game.

Murray broke for 3-1 in the third while Isner clung on saving two more break points in the sixth game.

But the world number two wrapped up victory -- and his sixth win in six clashes with the big American -- with his ninth ace of the tie.

Isner was undone by Murray's superior returning which contributed to his 57 unforced errors.

Murray said he had wanted the match halted earlier as the rain made conditions dangerous.

"I know it's difficult sometimes when the right time to stop is, but I think on clay courts that the players really need to be the ones that kind of decide that," he said.

"If they don't feel comfortable then you have to stop, because it's a surface if you get that wrong you can hurt yourself."

Wawrinka, the third seed, saw off Serbia's Viktor Troicki 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 6-2 for his 11th straight win in the year's second Grand Slam.

He will next face a Spanish left-hander who isn't named Rafael Nadal after unheralded Albert Ramos-Vinolas reached his first Grand Slam last-eight with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic.

Sunday was a fifth win in five meetings for Wawrinka over Serbia's Troicki whose challenge fizzled out following a right thigh injury at 4-1 down in the third set.

"It was far from easy with tough conditions -- heavy and cold, but I am happy to have come through it," 31-year-old Wawrinka said.

- Shock winner -

Ramos-Vinolas, 28, had never got beyond the second round of any major before this Roland Garros and had failed to win a match at the tournament since 2011.

But the world number 55, who is only his country's ninth best player, ensured a left-hander from Spain would be in the last-eight after the injury-enforced withdrawal of nine-time champion Nadal.

"I had lost four times in a row here so I am very happy," said the shock winner who had also won just four matches in his entire career at the majors before coming to Paris.

"I played a great match. I think the cloudy conditions helped me as they made the court slower."

He trails Wawrinka 6-0 in career meetings including last week in Geneva where he won just two games.

"Wawrinka is the titleholder. He's hugely powerful. Last week I played him, and he won very easily," said Ramos-Vinolas whose only other previous win over a top 10 player was against Roger Federer in Shanghai in 2015.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Djokovic, Serena cruise as Kerber, Azarenka exit

PARIS, France -- Top seed Novak Djokovic launched his bid for a first French Open title with a routine victory while Serena Williams began the defense of her crown, but Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber crashed out on Tuesday.

Djokovic, a three-time Roland Garros finalist, faced little resistance from Taiwan's world number 95 Lu Yen-Hsun as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 victory.

The Serb, bidding to become just the eighth man to secure a career Grand Slam, needed only 90 minutes on Court Phillipe Chatrier to book a second-round encounter with Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis.

"Well, second and third set were really good. I thought I found my rhythm. First set was up and down. But I'll take the positives out of it, and I'm hoping I can progress as the tournament goes on," said Djokovic.

Serena Williams needed just 42 minutes to dispatch Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-0 as the American aims for another title that would see her equal Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 Grand Slam wins.

"Today was great for me. I hope I continue to play like today, it's only the first round. I hope I win six more matches," said Williams, showcasing her French to an appreciate crowd.

Andy Murray was forced to recover from a two-set deficit to overcome 37-year-old Radek Stepanek 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 in a match lasting three hours 41 minutes in total.

The second seed had been trailing by two sets to one but up a break in the fourth when play was suspended on Monday due to darkness.

The Scot duly returned to complete the job after making the crucial breakthrough at 5-all in the decider to set up a second-round encounter with 164th-ranked French wildcard Mathias Bourgue.

"He's always been extremely difficult to play," said Murray after a ninth career comeback from two sets down.

"He was playing drop shots, hitting the ball very flat, it was very difficult to get into a rhythm. That's credit to him and the way he played."

While Murray toiled, there were no such problems for nine-time champion Rafael Nadal who extended his record at Roland Garros to 71 wins against just two losses.

The fourth-seeded Spaniard made quick work of 100th-ranked Sam Groth, taming the Australian's powerful serve with eight breaks in a resounding 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win.

"It's obvious that was a good start for me," said Nadal.

"I managed to break him very quickly. It was important because against such an opponent it's not easy to take his serve."

- Kerber dumped out -

Kerber became the tournament's first major casualty as Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens consigned the German third seed to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 defeat.

"The first rounds are always tough in the tournament, especially for me, but, yeah, what can I say? It happens," lamented Kerber, who was hampered by an ongoing shoulder problem.

"She's a tough opponent. I was ready. But, yeah, at the end she made the important points."

Another former Melbourne champion, Victoria Azarenka, retired in her opening-round match with Italy's world number 118 Karin Knapp.

Fifth seed Azarenka quit with a knee injury down 4-0 in the third set having already saved a match point in a second set tie-break.

Both Kerber and Azarenka were in Williams' section of the draw.

Sixth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga strolled to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory against German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff, with Tomas Berdych also cruising to a straight-sets win over Vasek Pospisil.

David Ferrer, the 2013 runner-up, thrashed Russia's Evgeny Donskoy 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.

Austria's Dominic Thiem struggled initially against Inigo Cervantes, dropping the opening set to the Spaniard, but the 13th seed rallied to claim a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory.

Thiem, who retained his Nice title over the weekend, is one of just three players alongside Nadal and Pablo Cuevas with multiple clay-court tournament wins this season.

John Isner fired 40 aces to advance 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (14/12), 7-6 (9/7), 7-5 over Australian John Millman, while Bernard Tomic put recent struggles behind him to dispatch American Brian Baker in three sets.

Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky swept past Spanish lucky loser Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-3, 6-1, while 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro needed three sets to beat Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova.

Seven-time major winner Venus Williams, who lost the 2002 final to sister Serena, edged out Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4), while 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic held off French wildcard Oceane Dodin in three sets.

Former runner-up Sam Stosur overcame Misaki Doi of Japan 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, but Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 champion, bowed out in straight sets to French 26th seed Kristina Mladenovic.

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Kyrgios lights up damp first day at French Open

PARIS - Australian Nick Kyrgios did his best to enliven a damp and dismal Parisian day with eye-catching play and habitual rants as the French Open began without some of its familiar settings on Sunday.

The volatile 17th seed mainly let his racket do the talking during an impressive 7-6(6) 7-6(6) 6-4 defeat of Italian debutant Marco Cecchinato, although he did receive a code violation for snapping at a ball boy in the first set.

Women's 10th seed Petra Kvitova was another early starter and was nearly sent packing in the opening skirmish on Philippe Chatrier Court, the twice Wimbledon champion coming within a game of defeat by Montenegro's Danka Kovinic.

She eventually won 6-2 4-6 7-5 in two hours 16 minutes watched by ticket holders wrapped up in colourful anoraks and with a multitude of umbrellas primed for action.

Long lines of fans formed outside Roland Garros as security was visibly beefed up in light of November's deadly attacks in the city and once inside the historic grounds there was a feeling that things were not quite where they should be.

Three courts, numbers seven, nine and 11, which used to flank the Chatrier showcourt, have disappeared, replaced by a muddy hole in the ground -- the start of a controversial re-development that will included a new stadium court by 2020.

Leafing through their programs the fans would also have noticed the name of Roger Federer absent from the men's draw for the first time since 1998 after the Swiss 17-times grand slam champion withdrew injured.

With rain dogging players and spectators throughout, an anti-climactic opening day was called off at around 6.30 p.m. local time with only 10 of the 32 scheduled matches completed.

At least Kyrgios, enjoying a consistent year which hints at a more level-headed approach, provided some entertainment for those huddled together on Court One.

The volatile 21-year-old fired down 17 aces and fended off two set points in the second-set tiebreak before dispatching 124th-ranked Cecchinato and setting up a second-round clash with Dutch lucky loser Igor Sijsling.

The match was not without some of the outbursts that have made Kyrgios one of the most talked-about players on Tour.

Towards the end of the first set he barked at a ballboy and was warned by umpire Carlos Ramos.

"A code violation for saying 'towel' loud?" Kyrgios said in a fiery exchange with Ramos.

"Now I've seen it all. That's bullshit... are you kidding?"

There was a maturity about his display though and he produced his best tennis when he needed it -- saving one set point with a nonchalant drop shot before taking control.

Kvitova, a semi-finalist in 2012, began confidently in light drizzle that followed the torrential early-morning rain, but from a position of strength got bogged down on the damp clay.

Kovinic served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but Kvitova roused herself to rattle off three games in a row.

"Definitely the serve," Kvitova, who racked up 10 double faults, said when asked what she needed to improve on.

Her fellow Czech Lucie Safarova, a surprise runner-up last year to Serena Williams, dropped only two games as she made short work of Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko.

Home favourite Benoit Paire, one of 16 Frenchman to start in the main draw, produced a topsy-turvy display against Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot before winning in five sets.

Spain's Garbine Muguruza, the women's fourth seed, did not make it on court for her match against Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova while men's fifth seed Kei Nishikori did, but was interrupted by the rain when he was leading by two sets.

(Editing by Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com