French Open 2016: As it happened at Roland Garros

05/06/2016

| French Open

Day 14

Day 13

  • Gordon Reid (GBR) & Shingo Kunieda (JPN) bt Stefan Olsson (SWE) & Michael Jeremiasz (FRA) 6-3, 6-2
  • Jordanne Whiley (GBR) & Yui Kamiji (JPN) bt Aniek Van Koot (NED) & Jiske Griffioen (NED) 6-3, 4-6 [10-6]

British stars Gordon Reid and Jordanne Whiley ended their French Open campaigns with doubles titles at Roland Garros.

Reid, who had earlier lost in the men’s singles, defended his title with Japan’s Shingo Kunieda after seeing off Michael Jeremiasz and Stefan Olsson 6-3, 6-2.

Whiley had earlier landed her seventh slam doubles title alongside long term partner Yui Kamiji as they overcame Jiske Griffioen and Aniek Van Koot 6-3, 4-6, [10-6].

Day 12

Day 11

  • Andy Murray bt Richard Gasquet No.9 (FRA) 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-0, 6-2
  • Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) & Edouard Roger-Vasselin No.6 (FRA) bt Jamie Murray and Hao-Ching Chan (TWN) 6-4, 6-4

For two hours and 17 minutes this was an absolute classic. For the remaining one hour and six minutes, an absolute thrashing.

Andy MurrayAndy Murray absorbed the best Richard Gasquet could throw at him before powering into his third straight French Open semi-final with a 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-0, 6-2 win.

The British No.1 and French No.2 put on a magnificent show for the Philippe Chatrier crowd early on with some great tennis coming off both rackets.

After the match was cancelled yesterday, Murray started the faster of the two in the last eight clash and raced into a 5-2 lead before the home favourite came roaring back to win the next five games.

Gasquet, the No.9 seed, had knocked out Nick Kyrgios and Kei Nishikori in the previous rounds and was playing at this stage for the very first time at his home Grand Slam.

He battled back again in the second from 5-2 down to force a tie-break but lost six point in a row from 3-1 ahead as Murray showed his superior steel under the highest of pressure.

The two sets had taken more than two hours and featured a variety of incredible rallies with drop shots aplenty and some exhausting retrieving.

Roland GarrosWith Murray now in the driving seat, he hammered home the advantage to break serve three times in the third to claim it for the loss of no games.

He scented victory, and two further breaks later a semi-final tussle with Stan Wawrinka was edging ever closer.

After serving it out with minimal fuss, Murray said: “There was some great tennis and some fun points to watch - drop shots and plenty of variety.

“We both had our chances and it was important to win the second. It would have been tough to come back.

"Stan's played great tennis and is the defending champion. It's going to be extremely tough. We haven't played each other for a while. Hopefully I can play my best and reach my first final here."

Day 8

  • Andy Murray bt John Isner No.15 (USA) 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-3
  • Marcin Matkowski (POL) & Leander Paes (IND) No.16 bt Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares (BRA) 7-6(5), 7-6(4)
  • Jamie Murray and Hao-Ching Chan (TWN) bt Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) & Rohan Bopanna (IND) 2-6, 6-3, [10-8].
  • Wu Yibing No.13 (CHN) bt Jay Clarke 7-6(5), 6-4
  • Caty McNally (USA) bt Katie Swan 6-4, 6-3
  • Anastasia Potapova No.4 (RUS) bt Emily Appleton 6-3, 6-4

Andy MurrayAndy Murray moved into his 26th Grand Slam quarter-final after overcoming a tricky test against the big-serving John Isner.

Murray had to navigate some difficult moments out on Suzanne Lenglen, but stepped up to control the big points and came through 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-3.

Isner was the more aggressive in the opener and forced opportunities to break serve before an epic 16 minute tie-break saw him miss out on three set point opportunities of which one was a mid-court forehand Murray somehow guessed correctly to direct a beautiful backhand down the line.

The players left court after a rain delay soon after and when they returned it was the British No.1 who this time was struggling to take his opportunities before, at the bAndy Murrayusiness end of the set, he broke for the first time in the final game.

Murray has never lost to Isner, and wasn’t about to do so from a two-set lead. Despite the American pinging down some huge serves, he handled everything that came his way.

Even when Isner forced break point opportunities in the third set Murray confidently recovered the situation before sealing the win in two hours and 40 minutes with an ace.

Murray said: "It was very important to win that first-set tie-breaker. It could have gone either way. I got lucky with his opening set point, I guessed the right way and got the winner.

Stat attack:

  • Murray has reached the French Open quarter-finals a record six times, the most by a British male ever.

Day 7

  • Novak Djokovic (SRB) No.1 bt Aljaz Bedene 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
  • Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares (BRA) bt David Guez (FRA) & Vincent Millot (FRA) 6-2, 7-6(5)
  • Daniel Nestor (CAN) & Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) No.14 bt Colin Fleming & Jonathan Erlich (ISR) 6-3, 7-6(4)
  • Hao-Ching Chan (TWN) & Yung-Jan Chan (TWN) No.3 bt Jocelyn Rae & Anna Smith 6-3, 6-2

World No.1 Novak Djokovic ended Aljaz Bedene’s positive French Open with a hard-fought 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 win on Philippe Chatrier.

Bedene, playing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, took it to the Serbian from the back of the court with both players producing some exciting and energy sapping rallies as the sun disappeared over Paris.

Aljaz BedeneStarting later than planned after rain interruptions, Djokovic was keen to stamp his authority on the match from the off and broke straight away.

The British No.2, with Aegon GB Davis Cup Team captain Leon Smith in his box, settled to find his rhythm and was causing the top seed problems with his heavy hitting off either flank.

After Djokovic broke again to take the opener, a further two breaks sealed the second but only after some impressive fight from Bedene saw him save four set points and come back from 5-1 down.

It was a fantastic effort from the Brit after his five set heroics on Thursday and he broke back to level at 2-2 in the third.

As Djokovic started to rush and beat the fading light, Bedene continued to battle for every point but last year’s beaten finalist wrapped it up just after the two hour mark as darkness descended all around Roland Garros.

Day 6

  • Andy Murray bt Ivo Karlovic No.27 (CRO) 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(3)
  • Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS) & Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) bt Naomi Broady & Louisa Chirico (USA) 6-1, 6-4

Andy Murray safely swept aside big-serving Ivo Karlovic with an impressive straight-sets win over the No.27 seed.

Murray, who edged past his two opening matches in five sets, faced no such struggles against the giant Croatian out Andy Murrayon Suzanne Lenglen.

Karlovic, the oldest player in the third round of a grand slam since 1991, has never beaten Murray and found himself 5-0 down in a matter of minutes after some inspired play from his pumped opponent.

You shouldn’t be able to lob someone standing at 6ft 10inches with such consistency, but, as is his trademark, Murray makes it look incredibly easy.

After an early break in the second, the third set went to a tie-break after Murray held his last five service games for the loss of just one point.

The British No.1 closed it out comfortably and said afterwards: "It was very close especially in the third set. He fought right to the end. I started quickly and obviously it is great to get off court in a relatively quick match."

Day 5

  • Aljaz Bedene bt Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP) 7-6(4), 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-2
  • Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares (BRA) bt Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) & Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 6-3, 6-3
  • Jocelyn Rae & Anna Smith bt Miyu Kato (JPN) & Kurumi Nara (JPN) 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
  • Sabine Lisicki (GER) & Andrea Petkovic (GER) bt Heather Watson & Nicole Gibbs (USA) 6-4, 6-4

British No.2 Aljaz Bedene has reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first ever time after outlasting Pablo Aljaz BedeneCarreno-Busta 7-6(4), 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-2.

Bedene set up a clash with Novak Djokovic after hitting 23 aces in beating the Spanish clay courter in three hours and 10 minutes.

The Brit looked on course for a comfortable outing against the player ranked 23 places above him when he raced into a two-set lead but got pegged back into a decider, which was won after breaking twice in the last four games.

Elsewhere, Jamie Murray’s quest for a fourth straight Grand Slam final got off to a solid start alongside Bruno Soares before Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith fought back superbly to win in three sets and move into Round 2 for the first time.

Day 4

  • Andy Murray beat Mathias Bourgue 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
  • Svetlana Kuznetsova No.13 (RUS) bt Heather Watson 6-1, 6-3
  • John Isner No.15 (USA) bt Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
  • Colin Fleming & Jonathan Erlich (ISR) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) & Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) 6-3, 6-0
  • Federico Delbonis (ARG) & Andres Molteni (ARG) bt John Millman (AUS) & Ken Skupski 6-1, 7-5
  • Abigail Spears (USA) & Raquel Atawo (USA) bt Johanna Konta & Maria Sanchez (USA) 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4

2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was in stunning form to knock out Heather Watson 6-1, 6-3 in the second round.

Heather WatsonThe Russian has been getting back to her best this year, reaching the final in Miami, and was able to dictate the first set on Court 2.

Watson tested her in the second but it wasn’t to be with Watson saying afterwards: “She was just better than me today.”

Out on Court 14, big-serving John Isner hit 18 aces en route to ending Kyle Edmund’s French Open campaign 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

British No.3 Edmund wasn’t fazed by the 6ft 10inch American and battled hard but found his giant serve and powerful ground strokes tough to handle.

The No.15 seed broke once in each of the three sets and hit 36 winners to progress to the next round.

Kyle Edmund

Day 3

Aljaz Bedene

British No.2 Aljaz Bedene safely saw off the challenger of qualifier Gerald Melzer despite an early scare in Paris.

Bedene got broken twice in the opener but recovered to win the next three sets, breaking his opponent once in each, to reach Round 2 after 2.20 minutes.

Victory was sealed on his second match point and Bedene will be looking to reach a career best performance in a Grand Slam by moving past the next stage.

Johanna Konta and Laura Robson both faced difficult assignments against German opposition in Round 1 at Roland Garros.

British No.1, Konta, was seeded No.20 for this year’s tournament but found it tough going against Julia Goerges and went down 6-2 6-3 in 64 minutes.

Laura Robson

Georges has been rankled inside the world’s top 15 and played a brilliant match to break the Australian Open semi-finalist three times and smash 30 winners on her way to victory.

Meanwhile out on Court 2 Robson was playing on the Paris clay for the first time since 2013.

Andrea Petkovic was her opponent down the other end and despite crunching a few winners, Robson lost out 6-2, 6-2 to the No.28 seed who reached the last four at the event in 2014.

Day 2

  • Heather Watson bt Nicole Gibbs (USA) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2

Heather WatsonBritish No.2 Heather Watson won the battle with Nicole Gibbs and the rain to confidently reel off five straight games and move into Round 2 at Roland Garros.

Trailing 2-1 and down a break in the third set overnight after rain stopped play on Sunday, Watson wasted little time in recovering the lost service game against her American opponent.

Four straight winners saw her move into a 4-2 lead before victory, and a clash with 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, was sealed with a smash out on Court 3.

  • Kyle Edmund bt Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-1

He’s done it again! At the scene of his first ever Grand Slam match win last year, Kyle Edmund put in a fantastic Kyle Edmunddisplay yet again on his way to Round 2.

The British No.3 went toe-to-toe with his Georgian opponent and the first two sets saw no breaks of serve and had to be settled on tie-breaks.

Basilashvili then had the chance to take the advantage and served at 5-4 for the third set, but was then bulldozed by Edmund and only won more game as the Brit broke back and powered over the finishing line.

Davis Cup winner, Edmund, came off court after a 2 hours and 49 minute tussle into Paris moonlight just as play was starting to be suspended for the evening around the grounds.

  • Coco Vandeweghe (USA) bt Naomi Broady 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 

Naomi BroadyNaomi Broady put up a great fight against the World No.43 in her first ever French Open main draw match.

Broady was a break up in the opener on her least favourite surface before the American clinched it after 38 minutes.

The British No.3, who moved into the top 100 in February, then broke serve three times on her way to levelling the match and despite being 2-0 up in the decider, Vandeweghe clawed her way back to seal the victory in just over two hours.

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