Sluggish Dominic Thiem into French Open fourth round
The fourth seed lost control at times on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but his bludgeoning forehand made the difference as he set up a meeting with local favourite Gael Monfils.
Last year’s runner-up Dominic Thiem of Austria overcame a second-set blip as he huffed and puffed into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5 win against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas on Saturday.
The fourth seed lost control at times on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but his bludgeoning forehand made the difference as he set up a meeting with local favourite Gael Monfils.
Monfils had no trouble seeing off fellow Frenchman Antoine Hoang, whose wild-card run came to an end in a 6-3 6-2 6-3 defeat on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Thiem’s opponent, world number 47 and claycourt expert Cuevas, was a tougher nut to crack but it was a matter of when, not if, for the Austrian.
Del Potro through
Argentinian eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro eased past Australian Jordan Thompson and into the second week at Roland Garros on Saturday with a comprehensive 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 victory.
The former US Open champion, who has missed much of the season with injuries, is a two-time Roland Garros semi-finalist.
Del Potro will take on Russian 10th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the last eight.
