Saturday, May 30, 2009

Djokovic happy with more rest


2009 French Open - Day Five


Fourth seed Novak Djokovic wasted precious little time booking his place in the third round of the French Open.

The Serbian resumed this afternoon in a strong position after his match against Sergiy Stakhovsky was stopped for bad light last night with Djokovic two sets up.

Ukraine's Stakhovsky won just one game today as his 22-year-old opponent clinched a 6-3 6-4 6-1 success and a meeting tomorrow with Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 29th seed and a winner in five sets against 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.

"It's not pleasant when you don't finish a match in one day, especially in grand slams," Djokovic said.

"Today I played really well in the third set and I'm happy to finish early so I can have more time to recover for the next match."

Germany's Kohlschreiber's emerged triumphant after a marathon struggle with Ferrero, winning 6-4 2-6 6-4 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 in another match carried over from yesterday.

The third round kicked off today with eighth seed Fernando Verdasco getting the better of fellow Spaniard and good friend Nicolas Almagro in three sets.

With 31st seed Almagro being a specialist on the clay, Verdasco was expected to be given a tough test of his credentials but he came through with flying colours, claiming a 6-2 7-6 (7/4) 7-6 (10/8) victory.

Verdasco will next play Nikolay Davydenko, the only Russian remaining in the draw from the eight that started.

The 10th seed eliminated Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, the 17th seed, 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2.

Elsewhere, Josselin Ouanna was brought back down to earth with a bump, the French wildcard getting overpowered 7-5 6-3 7-5 by 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez.

Ouanna, ranked 134 in the world, created a surprise two days ago by ousting 20th seed Marat Safin, who was playing his last Roland Garros campaign before retiring.

That five-set match seemed to take its toll on the 23-year-old prospect, who could not live with the Chilean, twice a quarter-finalist here.

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