Paris, May 31 (IANS) Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer advanced to the fourth round of the French Open after beating Marin Cilic and Dmitry Tursunov respectively Friday.
Second seed Djokovic needed four sets to eliminate a determined Cilic 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, while Swiss legend Federer, the fourth seed, held off Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-7(7/9), 6-2, 6-4, reports Xinhua.
The 17-time grand slam champion, who won the French Open in 2009, found it tough against Russian 31st seed Tursunov and needed more than three hours to grind out a victory.
That gave Federer yet another piece of tennis history, the 32-year-old becoming the first man to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros for a 12th time.
He next faces what is sure to be a highly-anticipated clash against Latvian crowd pleaser Ernests Gulbis, who maintained his record of never having lost to Radek Stepanek by posting a 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 win, in just under two hours.