Serena survives, Gabashvili shocks Roddick
Serena Williams pulled through with the aid of a doctor at the French Open on Saturday but there was no reviving Andy Roddick as he packed up his kit bag and headed off to find some grasscourts.
Top seed Williams shrugged off a funny turn midway through her third-round match against Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before recovering her senses to win 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 and join sister Venus in the last 16.
Fellow American Roddick was trounced in straight sets by Teimuraz Gabashvili — his misfiring game no match for the flashy Russian or the cool, breezy conditions that returned to Roland Garros after the glorious sunshine of Frantic Friday.
“I fought through a couple of matches that were a little dicey. Today I got outplayed from the first ball,” Roddick, who will now begin his preparations for Wimbledon, told reporters after his 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 defeat to a qualifier ranked 114 in the world rankings.
Spain’s David Ferrer also joined Roddick on the casualty list, the ninth seed surprisingly beaten in straight sets by Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who now faces Gabashvili for a place in the quarterfinals.
Third seed Novak Djokovic took his place in the fourth round by beating Romanian 31st seed Victor Hanescu 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
After Friday’s champagne tennis when organisers got the tournament schedule back on track with a feast of top seeds in action, the middle weekend began with a hangover.
Hopes that home favourite Aravane Rezai would lift the mood evaporated when she lost what amounted to a sudden death shoot-out against Russia’s Nadia Petrova.
Starting at 7-7 in the deciding third set after darkness interrupted a thrilling match the previous evening, 15th seed Rezai was back off court in 15 minutes after Petrova held her nerve to prevail 10-8.
Marion Bartoli also lost her third-round match against Israel’s Shahar Peer.
Peer will face Serena Williams for a quarter-final berth but at one stage Pavlyuchenkova looked the more likely winner of the day’s opening match on Phillipe Chatrier court.
— Reuters
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