Federer Rolls Into Fourth Round at Roland Garros
Roger Federer was victorious at Roland Garros on Friday, reaching the fourth round of the French Open for the 12th time, a 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4 win over Dmitry Tursunov in just over three hours. It was the 197th win by Federer on clay, as he remained a perfect 5-0 lifetime over Tursunov.
Up next for Federer is the number 18 seed, Ernests Gulbis, a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 winner in just under two hours over Radek Stepanek. Federer leads Gulbis in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-1, with Gulbis having won their last meeting on clay at the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
“Game plan? I don't want to tell all my cards. But I have a game plan. I know how I'm going to play him,” said Gulbis of meeting Federer.
Also on Friday, it was Novak Djokovic recording his ninth consecutive win over Marin Cilic, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, to advance to the fourth round at Roland Garros. Djokovic remains perfect lifetime over Cilic, upping his mark to 9-0. Djokovic is bidding to become the eighth man in tennis history to complete the career Grand Slam with his first Roland Garros title, as he awaits the winner of the match between the 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the 22nd-seeded Jerzy Janowicz.
Also advancing at Roland Garros was world number eight Andy Murray, a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 winner over Australian Marinko Matosevic. Murray is through to the third round at the French Open for the sixth time in seven appearances. After being forced to miss the 2013 French Open with a back injury, Murray got as far as the semis in 2011 where he fell to Rafael Nadal and was a quarterfinalist in 2012, losing to David Ferrer.
Murray next faces the 28 seed, Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, a 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-2 winner over Denis Istomin.
