Roger Federer will tonight hope to end the fairytale run of Belgium's David Goffin at the French Open.
Goffin is the first lucky loser in 17 years to make a Grand Slam fourth round and should have no chance against one of the greatest players of all time, but in the previous round Federer, the champion in Paris in 2009, overcame battling French world No89 Nicolas Mahut 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5, being pushed to four sets for the second match in succession.
Goffin is the first lucky loser from qualifying to make the last 16 of a major since compatriot Dick Norman at Wimbledon in 1995 and the first at Roland Garros since 1978.
The 21-year-old achieved the feat by beating Poland's Lukasz Kubot 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 6-1, having originally lost in the final qualifying round last week.
He was then handed a lifeline when French star Gael Monfils pulled out on the eve of the event.
"I've seen him around," said Federer, who caught a glimpse of the young Belgian in his second-round win over Arnaud Clement.
"He has a nice game, he's a smooth ball-striker and talented, obviously, otherwise he wouldn't be coming this far in the tournament."
Top seed Novak Djokovic, bidding to become just the third man in history and first since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, breezed past French qualifier Nicolas Devilder 6-1 6-2 6-2 and will play Italy's Andreas Seppi in the round of 16 tonight. Seppi has reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam at the 29th time of asking.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the fifth seed, will be doing his part to keep French hopes alive tonight when he plays Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, who edged French 11th seed Gilles Simon 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-2 yesterday morning.
"I have had some difficult moments here, now I am happy to be having some good ones," said Tsonga, who has now matched his best performances of fourth-round runs in 2010 and 2011.
Meanwhile, last year's US Open champion Samantha Stosur has achieved her first task at the French Open of making it into the second week and has now set her sights on going all the way.
The sixth-seeded Australian, who suffered a shock first-round loss at January's Australian Open, plays rising American star Sloane Stephens tonight for a place in the quarterfinals. If she wins this match she'll likely be up against world No1 Victoria Azarenka.
But after stumbling so early in Melbourne, Stosur is relieved to have at least got into the second week in Paris.
"It's a great feeling," said Stosur, who beat Nadi Petrova in the third round. "It's a place that I wanted to try to get to and I'm pleased with the three matches I've played. [Against Petrova] I was solid and it was a good match, so hopefully it has set me up for the next one and we'll see where things go.
"I'm very happy with the way things have gone. There are always things you want to improve but [against Petrova] I knew what I wanted to do, I stuck to the plan and executed it very well. I couldn't ask too much more."
Stephens, along with Christina McHale, has been labelled as the next generation of American players to rule the women's game, taking over from the Williams sisters. It is only her second year playing the Grand Slams but she says she's improving as a player.
"I've done a lot better in staying calm throughout a match and that helps me when I get to the end of a match, where I think I've got to do it now or never," Stephens said.
"I have definitely worked staying calm. My grandparents gave me a necklace and on it it says `in calmness and confidence' and every time I think, `Oh my God, what am I doing?' I think of that and it helps me."
Meanwhile, Svetlana Kuznetsova could be one of the dark horses in this year's French Open. The Russian, who plays Sara Errani tonight, won this tournament in 2009, but has struggled to recapture that form.
However, she knocked out world No3 Agnieszka Radwanska yesterday morning and believes she's getting back to her best.
"I haven't played so well in a long time," said the Russian.
"I know that if I have this kind of game it makes me in control and it gives me good feelings. That's why I love tennis and I haven't had this feeling for quite a time.
"I've started to do things right off the court and I mean in practice, not with my life. So I practise the right things and I'm very confident with my game and I feel I'm back to the game which brought me my victories."
- © Fairfax NZ News
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