Serena Williams bludgeoned her way to another lopsided win at the French Open on Sunday as she continued her quest for a second French Open title, 11 years after her first.
The top seeded American needed just 70 minutes to dispose of the world’s top doubles player, Roberta Vinci of Italy, 6-1, 6-3 and in four matches at Roland Garros this year, she has dropped just 10 games.
The win puts her into a quarter-final matchup against unseeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia who won the title in Paris in 2009 after defeating Williams in a quarter-final thriller.
Kuznetsova, who outlasted eighth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, said she would relish going up again against Williams, even given her current form.
In the men’s draw, Tommy Robredo became the first man in 86 years to come back from two sets to love down in three successive Grand Slam matches to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday.
Robredo clinched a breathtaking 6-7 (5/7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over 11th seeded compatriot Nicolas Almagro and will tackle fellow Spaniard David Ferrer for a semi-final spot. Henri Cochet at Wimbledon in 1927 was the last man to achieve the feat.
On Saturday, Novak Djokovic comfortably defused the challenge of rising Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov to win 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 although he needed treatment to a right arm injury near the end of the match.
Meanwhile, all the excitement came out on the lesser courts with, in particular, a pulsating third round match on Court 1 where Tommy Haas needed 13 match points before seeing off the challenge of the marathon man of tennis, John Isner.
The veteran German squandered 12 match points in the fourth set before finally converting on what turned out to be a lucky 13th occasion for a 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-7 (10/12), 10-8 win. American Isner is already a tennis legend for having taken part in what was by far the longest match in history.
Sania, Bethanie move into round two Sania Mirza and her partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands progressed to the second round of the women’s doubles with a straight set win over local pair of Alize Cornet and Virginie Razzano.
The seventh seeded Indo-American pair recorded a 6-3 6-4 win in one hour and 28 minutes.