Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray may have been waxing lyrical about the upcoming generation of players but there will be no changing of the guard just yet as both stars eased past their young Australian opponents to reach the fourth round in Paris.
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Djokovic extended his winning streak to 25 with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 over Thanasi Kokkinakis while Murray eased past an often flashy yet error-prone Nick Kyrgios 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
Kokkinakis, ranked 84 in the world, has been the lesser successful Aussie so far compared to two-time grand slam quarter-finalist Kyrgios, but his performance against Djokovic indicates he will soon catch up with his friend and countryman in the top-30.
Djokovic mustered one break in each set to tame Kokkinakis, but the 19-year-old potential was evident as he hung in the rallies with the world No1, although was clearly lacking on return, failing to earn a single break point.
“I think that tennis needs players like Thanasi, who is a teenager, but still able to come out on centre court and play with courage and play with power and believe in himself,” Djokovic said after the match.
Kokkinakis, who was making his Roland Garros debut this year, admits that seeing Kyrgios beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last season sparked some fire in him. His third round showing in Paris will see him enter the top-70 for the first time.
“It’s motivation,” he said of seeing other youngsters having breakthroughs on tour. “But at the same time I want to do it my own way and not try and rival what they are doing. I want to kind of do better than them.
“It was definitely tough last year watching Nick break through. I’m not going to lie. Because I was playing a challenger in Winnetka, I think, and I lost first round and he just beat Nadal. I was like ‘wow, what am I doing?’ I had a look at it and I worked hard to put myself in these positions to play greatest players on big courts. I think I will be back playing some good tennis.”
Kyrgios complained about a recurring elbow problem and said he wasn’t able to serve at his usual pace against Murray, whom he describes as a “freak athlete”.
“It’s surprising, really. I have done so much and it’s pretty heartbreaking going out there and something like that holding you back.”
World No7 Rafael Nadal caught up with Murray and Djokovic in the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 win over Andrey Kuznetsov – a score-line that isn’t necessarily a fair reflection of how the match went. Nadal was broken twice by the Russian world No120 but managed to get through and set up a last 16 clash with American Jack Sock.
Rafael Nadal: “Things are going better… Fourth round is very good news for me.” http://t.co/fXEZziO5X6
— Rafael Nadal Fans (@RafaelNadalFC) May 30, 2015
The 22-year-old Sock, who skipped past Borna Coric in straight sets, is the youngest American to make the Roland Garros fourth round since Pete Sampras in 1993.
Earlier in the day, three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten said Nadal’s haul of nine titles in Paris in 10 years will never be broken and makes the Spaniard seem like he’s “out of this world”.
Nadal responded: “First of all, I am from this planet, I think. It is true that it is probably a tough record to beat. But at the same time, I tell you one thing: If I did it, somebody else can do it.”
US Open champion Marin Cilic continues to fly under the radar as he entered the second week with little fuss, beating Leonardo Mayer 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The No9 seed, who faces ex-French Open runner-up David Ferrer next, has been broken just once so far in 40 service games in Paris.
No20 seed and home favourite Richard Gasquet flung himself to the ground after earning a hard-fought 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-4 win over No15 seed Kevin Anderson to set up a last 16 clash with Djokovic.
