Swiss Wawrinka will now face Spanish Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who upset eighth seed Milos Raonic, in the quarter-finals for a place in the last four. PHOTO: AFP
It was the 31-year-old Swiss player’s 11th straight win in the year’s second Grand Slam and it puts him into a last eight match against Spanish surprise Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who upset eighth seed Milos Raonic in straight sets.
“It was far from easy with tough conditions — heavy and cold, but I am happy to have come through it,” said Wawrinka. “It was a big battle, but I was able to stay calm and win this match.”
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Troicki saved four first set points at 5-6 but he was powerless to prevent Wawrinka running away with the ensuing tie-breaker 7-5.
It was Troicki, however, who stayed the more focussed at the start of the second set, breaking Wawrinka’s serve in the fourth game to take a 4-1 lead.
Wawrinka, who also won the 2014 Australian Open title, reacted immediately with a break of his own to level at 4-4.
With light rain starting to fall on a sombre Philippe Chatrier centre court, it needed another tie-break to separate the players, Troicki levelling on his fifth set point.
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Wawrinka shrugged off that setback to take a 4-1 lead in the second after which Troicki received courtside medical treatment for a right thigh injury.
The Lausanne-based title-holder wrapped up the set 6-3 and he opened the fourth with another break to condemn his visibly wilting opponent to a fifth straight defeat at his hands.
Muguruza leads way into quarter-finals
Garbine Muguruza of Spain blazed into the French Open quarter-finals for the third straight year, defeating former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-4.
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“At the end it is always very tough. She is a player with a lot of experience and I just had to be there,” she said. “Quarter-finals are a great run and I am looking forward to improving my result here.”
Aisam crashes out of third round
Pakistan’s only player at the French Open Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his partner Canada’s Daniel Nestor crashed out of the clay court tournament after they lost their third-round match against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas and Spain’s Marcel Granollers 7-6, 6-4.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2016.
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