Federer Notches 60Th Career Win At Roland Garros To Move Into Third Round

Roger Federer recorded his 60th career win at Roland Garros on Wednesday as he defeated Diego Sebastian Schwartzman to move into the third round of the French Open.

The Switzerland native won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 against the Argentinean who was making his major debut. Federer used a powerful serve, converting 70 percent of his first serves into points, to dictate play and pull away from Schwartzman.

“I think it was kind of tough all the way through for me,” said Federe. “I didn’t feel relaxed for the entire match. He managed to put pressure on me and keep the pressure on me.”

He now moves on to face Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov, who beat American Sam Querrey in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic moved closer to his bid for his first ever French Open title by beating France’s Jeremy Chardy in three sets. The second-seeded Serbian cruised to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Chardy, whom he has now beaten nine straight times.

“I managed to play some good tennis and [am] already feeling like I’m improving my game as the tournament progresses,” said Djokovic. “I managed to make him play an extra shot. I managed to stay solid from the baseline and I think that forced him to make a lot of unforced errors, which definitely helped me to win in straight sets.”

On day three of the tournament yesterday, Andy Murray found himself in a battle with Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev. The match would go four sets but the Englishman pulled through 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, while Spain’s David Ferrer pushed past Igor Sijsling in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

While the majority of the top seeds on the men’s side moved into the second-round Tuesday, there were still a few minor upsets that rounded out the day.

American Jack Sock was able to pull through against 21st-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain after Almagro was forced to retire with an injury. Sock led 5-0 in the first set before Almagro bowed out with a foot injury.

“Fortunate, obviously, to move on to the next round,” said Sock. “Unfortunate for him. I was able to go out and play a solid five games.”

The 21-year old Nebraska native will face off with fellow American Steve Johnson, who needed five sets to get past France’s Laurent Lokoli.

The 16th seeded Tommy Haas was also forced to retire from his match after leading 5-2 to Jurgen Zopp of Estonia. The 36-year old German has been battling injuries over the last few tournaments and was forced to leave with a shoulder injury.

In what was most likely the biggest shock of day three, besides Nishikori’s loss, was the exit of 11th seeded Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian lost in straight sets to Ivo Karlovic who dominated the ground and net play to handle one of the top talents in the game.

“Today he was all over the court,” said Dimitrov. “He was just hitting his shots, penetrating every volley, low slice, serving really good..Even though I tried a lot of things, it is what it is. At the end of the day I don’t want to get myself too down for that. It’s just a loss.”

Karlovic, a Croatia native, will play Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria on Wednesday for a spot in the third round.