French Open 2023, Day 6Djokovic, Sabalenka and Tsitsipas into Round 4, 7th seed Rublev stunned

By Rounaq Sehrawat22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and 2023 Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka cruised to round four of the ongoing 2023 French Open on the back of straight set wins, while seventh seed Andrey Rublev and British number one Cameron Norrie were eliminated on Day six of the competition.

It was a day of highs and lows as some big names bowed out of the 2023 Roland Garros. While the likes of Djokovic, Sabalenka and Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the next round, big names like Rublev, Norrie and world number three Jessica Pegula suffered defeats in round three.

Djokovic wins in straight sets

The two-time French Open champion looked shaky in the first two sets as he spent three hours on the court, winning back-to-back tie-breakers, but pulled ahead in the third set to complete a 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-2 win over 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina at the Philippe-Chatrier court in Paris.

The Serb reached the 4th round of the French Open for the 14th consecutive year despite being booed by the Chatrier crowd on several occasions during his match.

Sabalenka makes easy work of Rakhimova

The world number two made easy work of Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova, defeating her 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the French Open in a match that lasted just 67 minutes. This is the first time that Sabalenka has reached the round of 16 in Paris, where she will lock horns with USA’s Sloane Stephens, who beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in the third round.

The Belarusian skipped the post-match press-conference citing mental health reasons due to questions pertaining to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, saying she did not feel safe at the media interaction.

“I know they still expect some questions that are more about the politics and not so much about my tennis. I know that I have to provide answers, but on Wednesday I did not feel safe in the press conference,” said Sabalenka.

Tsitsipas hammers Schwartzman

Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas also booked a spot in the round of 16 stage of the French Open with a convincing straight sets win over Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman. The world number five beat Schwartzman 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in the third round.

Pegula bows out in round 3

World number three Jessica Pegula failed to advance to the Round 4 after losing 1-6, 3-6 to Belgium’s Elise Mertens at Court Philippe-Chatrier. Mertens absolutely dominated the American, winning two breaks of serve, compared to Pegula’s zero. 28 unforced errors ended up costing Pegula the match as Mertens extended her head-to-head record against the American to 3-0.

Rublev, Norrie eliminated

World number seven Andrey Rublev suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego. The world number 48 defeated the Russian in a marathon five-setter, which lasted for three hours and 42 minutes. Sonego overcame Rublev 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 with a sensational comeback in the third round of the 2023 Roland Garros.

Meanwhile, a high-octane matchup between world number 17 Lorenzo Musetti and world number 14 Cameron Norrie, resulted in the British number one being knocked out of the French Open. The Italian defeated Norrie 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the round of 16 in Paris.

Other results

In other results, Russia’s Karen Kachanov defeated Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4, 6-13-6, 7-6 to move on to the round of 16. Austria’s Sebastian Ofner overcame Italy’s Fabio Fognini 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 in a long-running five-setter in round three.

As for the women’s singles, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina came from behind to beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova knocked out World number 24 Anastasia Potapova from the French Open, beating her 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Meanwhile, fellow Russian Elina Avanesyan beat Clara Tauson of Denmark 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in round three.