French Open day four snapshot

Ageless American Venus Williams and Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur have created tennis history on a dramatic fourth day of the French Open at Roland Garros.

SNAPSHOT FROM DAY FOUR OF THE FRENCH OPEN IN PARIS

Player of the day: Steve Johnson - the American broke down in tears after downing Next-Gen star Borna Coric 6-2 7-6 (10-8) 3-6 7-6 (8-6) to venture to the third round just three weeks after the death of his father and explaining: "I just miss my dad. I wish he was following along."

Quote of the day: "Quite honestly, I really don't give a damn what she says." - defending women's champion Garbine Muguruza when quizzed about Australian legend Margaret Court's inflammatory claim that "tennis is full of lesbians".

Stat of the day: Dead heat. Venus Williams, at 36 years, 348 days, became the oldest woman to reach the third round since her American compatriot Billie Jean King, at 38, in 1982, while Tunisian Ons Jabeur stunned sixth-seeded 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova 6-4 6-3 to become the first Arab woman in professional tennis history to reach a grand slam third round. Caroline Wozniacki's rare double bagel, a 6-0 6-0 dispatch of young Canadian Francoise Abanda, also deserves mention.

Upset alert: US prodigy Catherine Bellis sent 2016 semi-finalist and 18th seed Kiki Bertens packing with a 6-3 7-6 (7-5) boilover.

How the Aussies fared: Samantha Stosur rolled into the third round with a stylish 6-2 7-6 (8-6) win over tricky Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, while Nick Kyrgios and Jordan Thompson teamed up for the first time to take out second seeds Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in a three-set first-round doubles thriller.

How the seeds fared: Muguruza, Wozniacki, Stosur, Williams and Kristina Mladenovic all progressed in the women's, as did nine-time champion Rafael Nadal, reigning champion Milos Raonic, David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov in the men's. But Cibulkova, two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and top French hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were the big-name casualties.

Biggest talking point: Margaret Court.


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Source: AAP



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French Open day four snapshot | SBS News