Roland Garros—Paris, France
Defending champ Rafael Nadal won his ninth straight set at this year’s French Open, defeating Eduardo Schwank 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.
Winning 86 percent of his first serve points, Nadal struck 31 winners to 16 unforced errors. Needing two hours and 11 minutes to advance, Nadal broke serve on five occasions, while never losing his delivery. Improving to 48-1 at the event, Nadal will seek a quarterfinal berth when he next faces Juan Monaco, who defeated Milos Raonic, 6-7(5), 6-3 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.
Elsewhere, No. 4 seed Andy Murray dismissed a back injury to cruise past Santiago Giraldo, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Murray, who looked considerably better than in his previous match, struck nine aces and won 79 percent of his net points. Aiming to duplicate his semifinal finish of last year, Murray will next face Richard Gasquet. The Frenchman outclassed Germany’s Tommy Haas, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-0, 6-0. Gasquet defeated Murray at the Rome Masters last month.
In other third round results, No. 6 seed David Ferrer dismantled Mikhail Youzhny 6-0, 6-2, 6-2; No. 8 seed Janko Tipsarevic defeated defeated Benneteau 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, and No. 12 seed Nicolas Almagro continued his fine form by breezing by Leonardo Mayer, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
