The world no.1 and holder of the past three Grand Slams, Novak Djokovic, scored an amazing come from behind victory from 2-sets to love down against the 22nd seeded Italian Andreas Seppi to keep his quest for the 'Novak Slam' alive. For the majority of the match, it seemed as though the Serbian would suffer the same fate as of his WTA counterpart Victoria Azarenka, who was ousted from the French Open earlier in the day. However, the world no.1, despite not being at his best, managed to lift his game when it mattered clawing his way back into the match using his vast experience to scrape past his determined opponent.
Djokovic started off the first set in impeccable form, dictating play with pace and accuracy from both wings as he raced to a 3-0 lead, breaking the Italian in the 2nd game. However, Seppi, who is currently enjoying a career high rank of 25, was not to be denied as he brought the scores level thanks to some solid play. Errors started to flow from Djokovic's racquet with his usually reliable backhand also deserting him. Djokovic gifted another service game at 4-4 courtesy some loose forehands and compromised footwork, allowing the Italian to serve for the set. Novak tried to battle back in the following game but Seppi saved a break point en route to closing out the first set 6-4.
It was day of shocks here at the French Open on day 8 on the red clay as world No.1 Victoria Azarenka was upset by Dominikova Cibulkova in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(4). The top seed struggled to cope with the situation today, let her emotions get the better of her and smashed her racquet in frustration enroute to in a disappointing defeat. Earlier Angelique Kerber staved off the challenge of Croat Petra Martic progressing into the quarterfinals 6-3, 7-5. In the quarters she will face Sara Errani who defeated former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-0, 7-5 on Philippe Chatrier to become the first player to book their quarterfinal spot.
The defending champion, Rafael Nadal, who had only lost 9 games prior to Saturday's match at this year's French Open, was given slightly more of a workout by his unheralded Argentine opponent, Eduardo Schwank. Nevertheless, the Spanish Matador simply had too much game for the Argentine as he cruised past his opponent 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. The 192nd ranked Argentine, who did not play a bad match himself, was simply overwhelmed by the 6-time champion's impeccable defense, fine serving and vicious groundstrokes. The first set saw the unseeded Argentine struggling to win points on his serve as Nadal's deep and powerful returns from both wings, especially on second serves, left the Argentine on the back foot right away. Schwank had a much easier time on his serve in the next two sets but was not able to create any sort of impression on the great Spaniard's serve.
Defending champion Li Na and world no.2 Maria Sharapova both advanced to the round of 16 in contrasting styles here today at Roland Garros. Li Na who last year became the first Chinese player to win a slam overcame a wobbly started to overcome Christina McHale 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. The Chinese player improved with every set and in the end eased to victory over her young American opponent. In contrast, Maria Sharapova continued her perfect start to the tournament powering into the fourth round with an easy 6-2, 6-1 win against Shuai Peng of China. The no.28 seed was no match for the Russian winning machine, who smashed an incredible 32 winners in just 15 games of tennis. Also advancing was Britain’s Andy Murray who cruised past Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in just over two hours. The Scot showed little signs of the back problems that had plagued him in the previous match brooking little opposition from the Columbian enroute.
On the final day of third round matches the stars came out to play and 3 of the early goers were Francesca Schiavone, Petra Kvitova and David Ferrer. David Ferrer was the first to finish as he dismantled Mikhail Youzhny 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in just 101 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen while the women both forced to go the distance. Petra Kvitova eventually eased past Nina Bratchikova 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 but Schiavone was not as lucky as she crashed out at the tournament where she has really made her name. The Italian was ousted by Uzbek turned American Varvara Lepchenko in a deciding set thriller 3-6, 6-3, 8-6. Lepchenko’s first ever 4th round appearance at a slam takes her ahead of Sloane Stephens in what is becoming a real battle for the final two places in the US Olympics team.