Steve Johnson was touched by his opponent's consoling words
after his defeat in the third round of the French Open.
Playing through grief following the
recent death of his father, a tennis coach who helped Johnson learn the game
back home in California, the 25th-seeded American lost to sixth-seeded Dominic
Thiem of Austria 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
Thiem, a semifinalist at Roland Garros
last year, celebrated modestly. He had some kind words for Johnson at the net.
"That means a lot," Johnson
said. "There's life outside of sport and he gets that. He's a standup
guy."
Johnson says his family will have a
"celebration for his (father's) life" after Wimbledon.
"It's going to be held at the high
school where we grew up playing tennis and he played tennis, and my mom and my
sister went to school and played all kind of sports," Johnson said.
"So it's going to be a place where it has a lot of meaning. Right now, I'm
just trying to honor his name as best I can and just be a competitor. I know
he'll look down proudly."
---
9:20 p.m.
Novak Djokovic hopes it's just the
beginning of a fruitful working relationship with Andre Agassi.
With his new coach watching, Djokovic
ground out a 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win against unheralded Argentine Diego
Schwartzman.
He needed Agassi's soothing words and
calm analysis after a much tougher match than most expected.
"I hope that we can create something
that is going to go long term," said the second-seeded Djokovic, the
defending French Open champion. "He's someone with a very positive mindset
about tennis and life in general. He likes to just focus on the right frames
and just get the best out of it."
Djokovic has won 12 Grand Slam titles,
while the 47-year-old Agassi won eight majors and, like Djokovic, is one of the
rare players to have won all four of them.
"You get that sense from him that he
knows exactly what he's talking about. One of his virtues is the ability to
actually simplify and make it very clear," Djokovic said. "He is very
bright, very genuine. Very good soul, good heart, cares about the game, cares
about others and always tries to be kind to others."
---
8:50 p.m.
Former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki's
third-round French Open match against 18-year-old CiCi Bellis of California has
been suspended because of darkness.
Wozniacki took the first set 6-2, but
Bellis was leading 5-2 in the second and about to serve for it when play was
halted Friday night.
When Wozniacki was down 3-2 in the second
set, with rain falling, she complained to the chair umpire that it was too dark
to continue.
"I literally cannot see,"
Wozniacki said.
She resumed her plea to stop after
dropping the first point of the next game, but was told by the chair umpire to
continue. Wozniacki then walked over to the side of the court to talk to an official
sitting in the stands.
They played on before eventually
stopping. The match will resume Saturday.
---
8:15 p.m.
The third-seeded American twins Bob and
Mike Bryan lost in the second round of the French Open, beaten by Sam Groth of
Australia and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 7-6 (4), 6-3.
The Bryans have won a record 16 Grand
Slam men's doubles titles as a pair, including two at the French Open, in 2003
and 2013.
Only two rounds into the tournament, the
top four teams all already are out of men's doubles.
---
8 p.m.
Venus Williams has reached the French
Open's fourth round by beating an opponent who is 15 years younger than she is.
Williams, who turns 37 this month, did
not get much of a test during a 6-3, 6-1 victory over 60th-ranked Elise Mertens
of Belgium that lasted just over an hour at Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 21-year-old Mertens was playing in
only her second Grand Slam tournament.
Williams is a seven-time major champion
and was the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2002.
"Today I had experience," Williams
told the crowd afterward, "and that helped a lot."
This is her record 20th appearance in the
French Open.
"I'll be honest: There won't be 20
more," Williams said with a laugh. "I will be watching in 20 years
with all of you guys."
---
7:35 p.m.
Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova has
reached the fourth round of the French Open after a grueling match lasting more
than three hours.
The eighth-seeded Russian beat No. 32
Zhang Shuai of China 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5, improving to 5-1 in their head-to-head
matches.
Kuznetsova wasted two match points
serving at 5-3 and 40-15, and then dropped her serve. Zhang let out a loud
scream when she held to love for 5-5.
But after holding her next serve,
Kuznetsova took her chance on her third match point when Zhang's scooped shot
from the back of the court sailed long.
Kuznetsova, who won at Roland Garros in
2009, next plays either No. 11 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark or American
Catherine Bellis.
---
6:30 p.m.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic has
reached the fourth round of the French Open after rallying to beat Diego
Schwartzman 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Djokovic sealed victory on his first
match point with a forehand winner down the line, completing the win in 3
hours, 19 minutes.
The second-seeded Serb gave Schwartzman a
hug and a part on the head at the net - and then joined in the applause as the
Argentine player walked off Court Philippe Chatrier.
"I was expecting a difficult game
with a lot of rallies from the baseline, because the conditions are
heavy," Djokovic said moments after his win. "I want to congratulate
Diego for a great battle, because he played very well."
Schwartzman needed some treatment to his
back late in the fifth set.
---
6 p.m.
Novak Djokovic has pushed his
tighter-than-expected match in the French Open third round to a fifth set.
Djokovic trailed by two sets to one
against Diego Schwartzman at Court Philippe Chatrier before taking the fourth
6-1.
It wasn't all easy for the No. 2 seed.
Serving at 4-0, Djokovic was given a second time violation and so lost his
first serve.
The clearly rattled defending champion
was muttering away to himself shortly afterwards, having netted a backhand to
give Schwartzman a break point.
Djokovic was then given a code violation
and began to argue with the umpire.
"What's wrong with you? What did I
say? Did I hit the ball towards you?" Djokovic questioned.
After being told it was because of his
poor attitude, he added: "What attitude? What attitude?"
---
5:35 p.m.
Dominic Thiem had comforting words for
Steve Johnson after beating him in the third round of the French Open.
Johnson has played through grief
following the recent death of his father and Thiem consoled him after their
match.
"I said that I'm very sorry what
happened. That he's a great guy and a great player," the sixth-seeded
Thiem said after beating the 25th-seeded American 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3. "I
think it was unbelievable tough for him to even play here."
---
5:25 p.m.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic is one
set away from losing at the French Open.
The second-seeded Djokovic trails Diego
Schwartzman 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the third round.
---
4:45 p.m.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic has
leveled his third-round match against Diego Schwartzman at the French Open by
winning the second set 6-3.
Schwartzman, who is ranked 41st, clinched
the first set 7-5.
---
4:20 p.m.
Steve Johnson, still grieving the recent
death of his father, lost to sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in
the third round of the French Open.
The 25th-seeded American had burst into
tears after his second-round victory over Borna Coric on Wednesday.
There was no such display of emotion
after he lost to Thiem, who spoke to Johnson at the net and gave him a
consoling hug.
---
4:05 p.m.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic has
lost the opening set of his third-round match against Diego Schwartzman at the
French Open.
The second-seeded Djokovic saved four set
points before Schwartzman, who is ranked 41st, clinched it 7-5 on his next
opportunity when the Serb hit a backhand long.
No defending male champion has lost
before the fourth round at Roland Garros since 2004. Schwartzman is hoping to
beat a top-10 player for the first time.
---
3:45 p.m.
Kristina Mladenovic is through to the
French Open fourth round after beating Shelby Rogers of the United States 7-5,
4-6, 8-6 from 5-3 down in the last set.
The 13th-seeded Frenchwoman secured
victory on her first match point with a forehand winner, and threw both arms in
the air to the roar of the crowd.
"I went through so much emotion in
this match, I don't know what to say," said Mladenovic, praising the fans.
"I don't have words to describe the love I have for you and what you bring
me."
Rogers was serving for the match at 5-3
when she was broken to love. Mladenovic then held to love for 5-5 to turn the
match around.
At 6-6, Rogers was broken to love again,
giving Mladenovic the chance to serve for victory.
Mladenovic, who took three hours to beat
Jennifer Brady in the first round, next plays defending champion Garbine
Muguruza of Spain.
---
2:45 p.m.
Rafael Nadal dropped just one game on his
way to a straight-set victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili.
It was Nadal's 100th best-of-five-sets
match on clay. He has a 98-2 win-loss record.
With the rainclouds rolling in, Nadal
seemed keen to get his third-round match over as quickly as possible and the
No. 4 seed took 90 minutes to win 6-0, 6-1, 6-0.
"I don't know if it was
perfection," said Nadal, who turns 31 on Saturday.
"I went on court thinking it was
going to be a tough match ... I believe I played the best match since a
while."
---
This update corrects spelling of
Basilashvili.
---
1:45 p.m.
Fifth-seeded Milos Raonic advanced to the
fourth round of the French Open when opponent Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired
from the match with a left thigh injury.
Raonic was leading 6-1, 1-0 when
Garcia-Lopez stopped. The Spaniard had already received treatment at the end of
the first set.
It was the second retirement of the day.
David Goffin was forced out with an injured right ankle.
---
12:55 p.m.
Defending champion Garbine Muguruza
advanced to the fourth round of the French Open by beating Yulia Putintseva
7-5, 6-2.
The fourth-seeded Spaniard broke her
opponent's serve three times in the second set.
Muguruza will next face either Shelby
Rogers of the United States or 13th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France.
---
12:20 p.m.
David Goffin retired from his third-round
match at the French Open after injuring his right ankle against Horacio
Zeballos.
The 10th-seeded Belgian was leading 5-4
in the first set when he limped off court with two trainers helping him.
Zeballos carried Goffin's bag.
Goffin was serving for the first set and
led 40-0 but allowed Zeballos back into the game.
The Argentine had a break back point and,
at the end of a long rally, Goffin got to a tough ball. He won the point to get
back to deuce but slid after he hit it, catching his foot on the tarp at the
back of the court.
---
11 a.m.
Defending champions Novak Djokovic and
Garbine Muguruza both play Friday in the third round of the French Open.
The fifth-seeded Muguruza is up first on
Court Philippe Chatrier against No. 27 Yulia Putintseva.
Rafael Nadal will then continue his bid
for a 10th French Open title against Nikolz Basilashvili, and the second-seeded
Djokovic follows against Diego Schwartzman.
Venus Williams is last on the main court,
against Elise Mertens.
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