Gabashvili ends Roddick's stay; mixed fortunes for Indians

May 30, 2010 02:26 am | Updated 02:26 am IST - PARIS:

BIG SCALP: Teimuraz Gabashvili played brilliantly to oust sixth-seeded Andy Roddick in the third round of the French Open on Saturday. Photo: AFP

BIG SCALP: Teimuraz Gabashvili played brilliantly to oust sixth-seeded Andy Roddick in the third round of the French Open on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Sixth seed Andy Roddick was stunned by an inspired performance from Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili here on Saturday, as the seeds began to fall at the French Open.

Third seed Novak Djokovic took his place in the fourth round by beating Romanian 31st Victor Hanescu 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, but ninth seed David Ferrer fell to defeat against Jurgen Melzer, the Austrian 22nd seed. Melzer defeated the Spaniard 6-4, 6-0, 7-6(1) and will now meet giant-killer Gabashvili, who won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 against Roddick, for a place in the quarterfinals.

In doubles action, Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna scored contrasting wins with their respective partners but Mahesh Bhupathi made a shock exit along with Max Mirnyi.

Defending champion and third seeds Paes and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic booked a pre-quarterfinal berth with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over unseeded pair of Swiss Yves Allegro and Andreas Beck of Germany.

However, Bhupathi and Mirnyi had disappointment in store as they lost 4-6, 6-7(4) to Spanish pair of Marc Lopez and Pere Riba in the second round.

Earlier, Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi scored an easy 6-2, 6-3 win over Italian Fabio Fognini and American Michael Russell.

Serena pulls through

Meanwhile in the women's section, top seed Serena Williams survived a health scare, while Russia's Nadia Petrova defeated Roland Garros golden girl Aravane Rezai in a marathon, centre court comedy of errors.

Williams, the 2002 champion, beat Russia's 29th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 to reach the last 16, but needed treatment after going 0-5 down in the second set, having cruised through the opener. She had her pulse tested and temperature taken courtside. ,Williams, despite appearing uncomfortable, then broke twice in the final set and will face Israel's Shahar Peer for a place in the quarterfinals.

Kuznetsova ousted

However on Friday, defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova was dumped out after losing 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to 30th seeded Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko.

In mixed doubles, Leander Paes and Cara Black began their campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 over the local pair of Pauline Parmentier and Marc Gicquel.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.