Mixed Results for Americans in Paris as Sock Advances and Isner Falls

May 28, 2015 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

American Jack Sock moved on at Roland Garros on Thursday, defeating Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 6-1, 7-6(4) to reach the third round in Paris. Sock hit 67 winners on the day and capitalized on five of his eight break point chances to beat Busta. Sock will next face 18-year-old Borna Coric, who upset the number 18-seeded Tommy Robredo Thursday, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Earlier in the week, Coric was a round one winner over American Sam Querrey.

American John Isner was not so lucky Thursday, falling 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to hometown favorite Jeremy Chardy. Chardy will now meet the 17th-seeded David Goffin.

"I could have beaten a lot of people out there today," Isner said, "and he wasn't one of them."

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic rolled to a 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 win Thursday at the French Open over Gilles Muller, extending his current match winning streak to 24 consecutive wins. Djokovic avoided becoming the first top seed to lose in the second round at this event since Andre Agassi in 2000, and is in contention as the eighth man in history to complete a career Grand Slam.

In the second set, Djokovic slipped and stretched his right groin, calling for the trainer.

"Thankfully, it's nothing major … so it's not a concern for the next match," Djokovic said. "It wasn't pleasant with the conditions that were changing today, and I think a little bit of heavier conditions made the court a little bit more wet and it was pretty slippery. I think that's when it happened, I made a couple of slides that were quite, I'd say, unusual, you know, with change of directions. And it happened in those dynamic movements, jammed the hip a little bit. Thankfully, it's nothing serious, really. It's going to be fine."

Djokovic advances to face Thanasi Kokkinakis in round three, after Kokkinakis defeated Bernard Tomic in five sets.

Also moving on in the men’s side of the draw was Andy Murray, who won his sixth straight match against Joao Sousa 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday. Murray moves to an undefeated 12-0 in 2015 on clay courts.

“For a lot of the match I played very well," Murray said in an interview with BBC Sport. "I didn't really help myself in the second set. I served badly, which made it difficult. Then at the end of that second set, he was able to dictate a lot of the points, and he played very well at the beginning of the third set and had some chances there as well. I was happy with the way I was able to turn it around and make some adjustments out there on the court, which turned the match in my favor."

Murray, seeded third at Roland Garros, moves on to face Nick Kyrgios on Saturday. Kyrgios, the 29th seed in Paris, enjoyed a day off after his opponent, Kyle Edmund, withdrew with a stomach injury.

In a battle of Spaniards, David Ferrer defeated his compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday. Ferrer moves on to face Simone Bolelli, who defeated the number 31 seed Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

South African Kevin Anderson defeated Yen-Hsun Lu 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to set up a round three matchup with the winner of the match between Richard Gasquet and Carlos Berlocq in the third round. Gasquet and Berlocq’s match Thursday afternoon was suspended due to darkness and will resume play Friday.

 


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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