Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer earned quick wins at the French Open before rain briefly halted play to advance into the second week on the clay on Friday.
Second seed Djokovic beat Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 as the Croatian double-faulted on match point to drop to 0-9 against Djokovic.
Federer, the 2009 champion and fourth seed, put in another command performance as he defeated Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 6-4 in their third-round match.
Just moments after Djokovic took victory, light rain fell, and forced women’s seventh seed Maria Sharapova off court before her first game had been completed against Paula Ormaechea. Sharapova was not disturbed by the delay and went on to crush her opponent 6-0, 6-0.
Federer’s win was his 31st of the season and 61st at Roland Garros, where he is making his 58th straight grand slam appearance.
“I’m pleased to be through. Like expected, it was not a straightforward, easy match,” said Federer. “knew he would play aggressive, serve well at times and then take big cuts at the ball. That’s kind of how it went.
“I’m pleased I found a way and played it sort of solid and tough toward the very end.” Ernests Gulbis, a one-time underachiever who has discovered the work ethic, followed up on his weekend Nice title to reach the second week of a major for the first time in 24 grand slams.
The Latvian defeated Czech Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to next face Federer, who he ambushed back in his carefree days for a second-round win in 2010. The Swiss holds a 2-1 edge overall.
Gulbis takes his usual confidence into the meeting with the 17-time grand slam champion.
“I have a game plan, I know how I’m going to play him. You don’t need to be scared of him, most guys go on the court and they’ve already lost the match before it has started,” he said.
“I can tell you that’s not going to be the case with me.” The women’s draw suffered another blow, setting a modern-day record, as the last of the top three seeds went out as Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic beat Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-4.
It marked the first time in the post-1968 Open era that all three leading women’s seeds have lost before the fourth round.
Number one Serena Williams and second seed Li Na were eliminated in the second round, with Radwanska following suit.
Tomljanovic, ranked 72nd, has now achieved a hat-trick of personal records as she staged the upset in just under 90 minutes: her first appearance in the French Open main draw, the first time in a grand slam third round at her fourth major and a first win over a top 10 player She has trained since aged 13 with Chris Evert at the former champion’s Florida academy.
Radwanska had played a Roland Garros quarter-final in 2013, her best Paris showing.
Fourth seed Simona Halep of Romania now remains the highest-ranked woman in the field.
German eighth seed Angelique Kerber beat Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-3.
Former finalist Samantha Stosur exploded into form as she put out ninth seeded Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-4 after the Slovak saved a match point.
Carla Suarez Navarro, seeded 14th, beat American Taylor Townsend 6-2, 6-2. Spain’s Garbine Muguruza followed up the knockout of Serena Williams by beating Anna Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-4.