Court safety review urged as Goffin hurt

French Open organisers are under fire after 10th seed David Goffin twisted his ankle and was forced to withdraw from the Roland Garros tournament.

David Goffin

French Open organisers have come under pressure to review court safety after David Goffin tripped. (AAP)

French Open organisers have come under pressure to review court safety after Belgian David Goffin tripped and twisted his ankle on a cover at the edge of the playing surface, sustaining an injury that forced him to quit the tournament.

His coach, Thierry Van Cleemput, said that while the 10th seed had not torn ligaments or broken a bone, the injury on Court Suzanne Lenglen, which had put his grasscourt season in doubt, should prompt a review.

"The objective is to have optimal safety for all players on the courts, and ... Roland Garros (staff) have asked themselves all of these questions," Van Cleemput told a news conference.

"There will be consequences. The decisions will be to have a safer court."

Roland Garros organisers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Austrian sixth seed Dominic Thiem, who would have faced Goffin in the next round had the Belgian come through against Argentine Horacio Zeballos, agreed the cover presented a risk.

"It's a little bit dangerous that this thing is there," Thiem told reporters after his third-round win over American Steve Johnson.

"If you are really in defence, then almost everybody goes that far behind the baseline. So maybe they should remove (it)."

Milos Raonic reached the last 16 after Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired at the start of the second set.

Fifth-seeded Raonic cruised through the first set 6-1 in 21 minutes and led 1-0 in the second when Garcia-Lopez retired at the changeover with a quad injury.

Canadian Raonic will face another Spaniard in the fourth round after Pablo Carreno Busta upset the 11th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.

The 20th-seeded Carreno Busta was too consistent for Bulgarian Dimitrov in a 7-5 6-3 6-4 victory.

Spain's contingent in the round of 16 swelled with Roberto Bautista Agut too good for Czech Jiri Vesely.

The 17th-seeded Bautista Agut broke Vesely on six occasions in a 6-3 6-4 6-3 win.


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Source: AAP



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