Stan wows, Murray finds his groove

paris, May 29

Andy Murray moved ominously into the French Open quarterfinals for the sixth time in his career with a clinical 7-6(9) 6-4 6-3 defeat of American John Isner on Sunday.

The second seed began the tournament scraping through back-to-back five-setters but has been a model of efficiency since and has his eyes fixed firmly on a first title at Roland Garros.

Isner took a 0-5 career record against Murray on to a murky  Court Suzanne Lenglen but he stuck manfully to his task in the first set, denying the Briton the slightest whiff of a break.

The 15th seed had three set points in the tiebreak, the first of which, when serving at 6-5, he will be rueing.

Murray reacted superbly to return a booming first serve and Isner then failed to make the most of an inviting mid-court forehand, giving the Briton the chance to ram a backhand past him as he advanced to the net.

Murray converted his second set point when Isner hit a forehand wide.

After a rain delay, the second set proved another tight tussle before Isner cracked under pressure at 4-5 — Murray breaking for the first time to move two sets clear with the help of a delightful angled drop shot. It was routine after that for Murray. He will play Frenchman Richard Gasquet, who beat Kei Nishikori 6-4 6-2 4-6 6-2, next.  

Wawrinka wins

Reigning champion Stan Wawrinka lit up a gloomy Roland Garros with his lurid day-glo yellow shirt as he reached the quarterfinals with a dazzling 7-6(5) 6-7(7) 6-3 6-2 win over Viktor Troicki. In an entertaining match featuring between-the-leg shots, a mid-match rally with a ballboy and an array of blinding backhand winners from Wawrinka, the Swiss third seed chalked up his fifth successive win over Troicki when the Serb netted a backhand.

Wawrinka set up a quarterfinal meeting with unheralded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who beat eighth seed Milos Raonic 6-2 6-4 6-4.

Aggressive Muguruza downs Kuznetsova

With Rafael Nadal out of the picture this year, Garbine Muguruza, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 6-4 to reach the last eight, is probably the best chance of a Spanish triumph at the French Open.

The fourth seed moved into the quarterfinals for the third year in a row with a solid display as she looks to become the first Spanish woman to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup since Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in 1998.

Hard hitter Muguruza, who has yet to make it to the last four in Paris, left little breathing space for the Russian 13th seed, the 2009 Roland Garros champion, in a style different to that of Sanchez Vicario, a pure claycourt specialist.

Hingis, Mirza lose chance to complete ‘Santina Slam’

Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza lost their cool as their hopes of holding all four Grand Slam titles were dashed following a 6-3 6-2 defeat by Czech duo Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the third round.

The Indo-Swiss team dubbed “Santina” were hoping to win four Majors in a row after following up last year’s Wimbledon and US Open triumphs with victory in January’s Australian Open.

Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna entered the men’s doubles quarterfinals along with their respective partners. Bopanna and Florin Mergea defeated Marcus Daniell and Brian Baker 6-2 6-7(4) 6-1, while Paes and Marcin Matkowski stunned fourth seeds Bruno Soares and Jamie Murray 7-6(5) 7-6 (4). — Agencies