Roland-Garros Day 7 men’s recap: Djokovic, Nadal, Federer all advance, Musetti wins all-Italian clash
Your guide to the biggest stories from the men’s side at 2021 Roland-Garros as the third round begins in Paris on Saturday 5th June
Novak Djokovic ( Serbie ) –
- Notable names winning on Saturday at Roland-Garros (3rd round): Novak Djokovic (1), Rafael Nadal (3), Roger Federer (8), Matteo Berrettini (9), Diego Schwartzman (10), Jannik Sinner (18), Lorenzo Musetti
- Notable names losing on Saturday (3rd round): Carlos Alcaraz
- To read about Friday’s men’s coverage including wins by Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alexander Zverev, you can click here
- To follow our full coverage of the 2021 French Open, please visit this page.
- To follow live results and to see the men’s draw and women’s draw, we recommend you follow the official Roland Garros website
- You can also check out the Tennis Majors team’s breakdown of the men’s and women’s draw
- Tomorrow’s programme at Roland-Garros will be updated here (and by the way, today’s schedule is here).
- All the practical information – how to watch the tournament, how to buy tickets and everything else you could possibly need to know – are hopefully in this page.
DJOKOVIC DOMINATES, NADAL TESTED BY NORRIE
It was a very straightforward three-set win for Novak Djokovic against a valiant Ricardas Berankis, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1.
The world No 1 is now through to the second week at Roland-Garros for a history-making 12th straight year.
He will next play Lorenzo Musetti, who enjoyed a stunning and epic win, coming from behind to beat compatriot Marco Cecchinato 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. This is the teenager’s first Grand Slam main draw.
The 19-year-old lay on the court after winning match point, and explained afterwards: “I was really satisfied at the end and was a mix of tension and I was a little bit tired. I mean, was my first time playing in the fifth.
“Everyone saw the ending, and I had a lot of match points. I didn’t win that match points. Then at the end on 5-3 I served good. And I finally, I mean, at the last match point at the end was really satisfying for me and really emotional.”
Musetti will, however, be joined in the fourth round by another Italian — Jannik Sinner — who defeated Mikael Ymer 6-1, 7-5, 6-3.
He will next face Rafael Nadal, who also racked up a straight-sets win, but a rather more testing one than the scoreline suggests. He defeated the British No 2 Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
FEDERER MAKES IT RIGHT AT NIGHT
A lot seemed to be going wrong on Saturday night. Roger Federer was playing in front of no fans and appeared to be on his way out of what could be his final French Open appearance (although there is by no means any confirmation on that). Moreover, fans in the United States were miffed that the match was being shown only on NBC’s Peacock TV affiliate as opposed to NBC itself or Tennis Channel.
But Federer made at least one thing right in the eyes of most tennis fans: he battled to victory and advanced to the second week at Roland-Garros. The 39-year-old defeated Dominik Koepfer 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 7-5 after three hours and 35 minutes.
SCHWARTZMAN WINS
10th seed Diego Schwartzman was the first male player to advance to the fourth round of Roland-Garros on Saturday.
The Argentine scored a comfortable a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber to move into the last 16 for the third time in Paris. He reached the quarter-finals in 2018 and the semi-finals last year.
Schwartzman will next face German Jan-Lennard Struff, who beat youngster Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2.
“I told him that he’s a great player, great fighter,” Struff said to the media afterwards, reflecting on his exchange with his opponent at the net. “You saw it at the end at 5-0, he still pushed himself and was there. So I had to be very careful.
“I told him that he should keep going because he’s such a good player and he will be a very, very good player in the future, and yeah, I told him that.”
BERRETTINI BLASTS PAST KWON
Matteo Berrettini overpowered Soonwoo Kwon 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes. The Italian — yes, another Italian — fired 23 aces and did not face a single break point in the entire match.
Federer is next for Berrettini on Monday.
