Paris: World No. 1 Andy Murray made short work of unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov to reach the French Open quarterfinals with a clean-as-you-like 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory on Monday.
Murray largely dispensed with the lapses that accompanied his first two matches as he maintained the momentum established in beating Juan Martin Del Potro with an assured display on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 30-year-old Briton made only one unforced error in pocketing the opening set and although he did drop serve late in the second he broke back immediately to take complete control of his first meeting with the talented Russian.
Murray broke in the ninth game of the third set, having just dropped his own with a rare baseline error, and wrapped up his 650th Tour-level win when Khachanov sprayed a forehand wide.
He will face eighth seed Kei Nishikori of Japan who again overcame a first set blackout to beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.
“I played well today,” Murray said after his match against the Russian. “I am happy because I did not make too many errors. Hopefully I can maintain this momentum in the remaining few days of the tournament.
In a late evening match played Sunday, defending champion Novak Djokovic eased into the quarterfinals outclassing clay court specialist Alberto Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(7-5), 6-1, 6-3. He will next face in-form Austrian, Dominic Thiem who beat Horacio Zeballos 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.
“After that (first set) I started playing with fewer errors and that was good. That gave me a lot of confidence,” Djokovic said in a courtside interview.
In women’s singles Simona Halep established her credentials to become the newest French Open champion with a blistering 6-1 6-1 victory over Carla Suarez-Navarro to reach the last eight stage.
“I feel very, very good now. I think I played the best match here in Roland Garros against Carla, which always was a tough match. And on clay I never won against her, so it was a really good match. I played exactly how I had to.”
Halep will meet Ukrainian Elina Svitolina who beat beating Croatian qualifier Petra Martic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Reuters
