Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka bounced out of French Open

In French Open Tennis, world No 1 Naomi Osaka and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams both bowed out from women’s singles third round, while men’s top-positioned Novak Djokovic met little resistance in securing his last 16 berth. 

In her first appearance as the top seed at a Grand Slam, the 21-year-old Osaka lost to Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 yesterday. Siniakova will next face 14th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States. Williams, in quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title, conceded a 6-2, 7-5 loss to fellow American Sofia Kenin. 

The 20-year-old Kenin, who made her second main draw apperance in the tournament, will compete against No 8 seed Ashleigh Barty for a quarterfinals spot.The third seed Simona Halep of Romania also romped into the round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Lesia Tsurenko. 

Novak Djokovic sailed through the men’s singles third round by taming Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. The Serbian will meet Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, who edged No. 13 seed Borna Coric through a five-set thriller by winning the decider 11-9. 

The fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev was made to work through another five-setter by Dusan Lajovic at 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2. Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Juan Martin del Potro also made into the next round. 

China’s Xu Yifan partnered with Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada to defeat Han Xinyun and Wang Yafan, both Chinese, 6-1, 6-1 in women’s doubles second round. Australian Open winners Zhang Shuai and Samantha Stosur also marched on, but Yang Zhaoxuan and Poland’s Alicja Rosolska went out.

The Hindu

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