Djokovic, Murray put out Aussie teens, Nadal wins
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TOP seed Novak Djokovic and third seed Andy Murray slapped down a pair of Australian upstarts at the French Open to reach the last 16 in impressive fashion yesterday.
Teenager Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios are touted as the next big things and pack plenty of box-office appeal but the gulf between brash raw talent and seasoned grand slam champions was evident in the Paris sunshine.
Djokovic, bidding for his maiden French Open title, hurtled towards a potential quarterfinal clash against defending champion Rafael Nadal with an immaculate 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Kokkinakis.
The world No. 1 did not face a solitary break point against the 19-year-old and moved into the second week of the tournament without dropping a set.
Nadal, meanwhile, brushed aside Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 to set up an encounter with American Jack Sock, a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 winner over Croat teen Borna Coric.
Kyrgios, a year older than Kokkinakis, has already made deep inroads at grand slams and his match-up with Briton Murray had the potential to be firecracker.
There were plenty of sparks and some outrageous winners from the 20-year-old, but for every thunderous forehand there was a crass error as 29th seed Kyrgios, hampered by a sore elbow that took the edge off his serve, flattered to deceive.
Murray was solid throughout, winning 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, although Kyrgios left one magical memory, running back to retrieve a Murray lob and flicking the ball through his legs and up over the head of his net-rushing opponent — spreading his arms wide to acknowledge the cheers of the Roland Garros crowd.
That was a rare highlight though and he was easily tamed by the no-nonsense Murray.
“You have to expect the unexpected against him,” said Murray, who has now won 13 consecutive claycourt matches and faces Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, who beat 17th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. “I feel like I have done a good job of kind of weathering the storms, he always has some periods in the matches where he’s on fire and hits some unbelievable shots.”
Ninth seed Marin Cilic, the US Open champion, continued his low-key progress, the Croat crushing Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to set up a last-16 against Spain’s David Ferrer or Simone Bolelli of Italy.
In the women’s draw, fourth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova sailed through to the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.
Former champion Francesca Schiavone could not back up her marathon victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round, however, as the 34-year-old Italian veteran, the oldest player left in the singles, fell to Romanian Andreea Mitu 5-7, 4-6.
Former runner-up Sara Errani of Italy made it through with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of German 10th seed Andrea Petkovic.
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