Don’t expect 6-1 or 6-0 sets since Facundo Bagnis is a pretty good player and I expect him to fight hard and take games to 6-3 or 6-4.
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The eight-time Grand Slam champion posted the note online to show his respect for Nadal’s phenomenal record on clay at Roland Garros.
Williams, whose bid for a calendar Grand Slam was shattered by Roberta Vinci at a year ago s US Open, remains one major title shy of Steffi Graf s Open era record of 22.
Djokovic, trying to complete a career Grand Slam and win his fourth consecutive major title, can become the seventh man with at least 50 match wins at Roland Garros.
Nadal may have reached his milestone, but two others are also attempting to add to their resume Thursday.
It was his first appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier, where nine times he has sunk his teeth into La Coupe des Mousquetaires, since being taken apart by Novak Djokovic in last year’s quarter-finals.
Ana Ivanovic has reached the third round of the French Open for the 10th time, beating Kurumi Nara 7-5, 6-1.
Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic celebrates winning his second round match of the French Open tennis tournament against Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Thursday, May 26, 2016.
“It was a bit hard but I’m happy I won in three sets”, said Djokovic, who will be hoping to go one step further than the runner-up medal he picked up at last year’s competition. The left-handed Kerber briefly left the court and returned to win her service game but could not break again and lost. It’s obvious that this opponent plays better on faster surfaces. Depending on her results in Paris, and those of No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 3 Angelique Kerber, Williams could be overtaken atop the rankings after the tournament.
Nishikori has spent less than four hours in two straight-set wins on the tiring red-clay courts to advance to the third round; Wawrinka has accumulated more than five hours, and Murray more than seven. “It does depend on me how I’m going to use this emotion; so I try to use it as a motivation to inspire myself, to play well, to stay calm and focus only on the present moment”.
Nadal has struggled off and on with injuries in recent years, but he had an easy time with his first-round opponent and is just behind Djokovic when it comes to who is favored for the tournament.
There were mixed fortunes for two former women’s champions.
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“Of course the expectations are big not just from my side but from people around knowing that this is the only Grand Slam I never won”. Theim deconstructed Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(3), to earn his 38th match win of the season on Thursday.
