Federer progresses to French Open third round, Bopanna continues winning run

Novak Djokovic also made it through to the next stage after beating Pablo Cuevas.

Roger Federer upstaged familiar foe Marin Cilic 6-2, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 to reach the third round of the ongoing French Open. Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna also won his match to continue his winning run in the tournament.

Federer and Cilic have met each other in some memorable clashes over the years, most notably in the final of the Wimbledon and Australian Open in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

On Thursday, it was yet another defeat for the Croatian against his nemesis. However, it was far from a straightforward win for the Swiss legend, who lost the second set and then had to overcome a nerve-wracking tiebreak in the third set. Eventually, the 39-year-old made it through to the third round, much to the relief of the majority of the onlookers at the Phillipe-Chatrier Court. Federer's next challenge will come in the form of German Dominik Koepfer.

On the other hand, Rohan Bopanna and his partner Franko Skugor sailed through to the third round of the men's doubles event at the French Open. Bopanna and Skugor secured a 6-4, 7-5 straight sets victory over American duo Frances Tiafoe and Nicholas Monroe. The 41-year-old Bopanna is vying for a place in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. The rankings on June 10 will be considered for entry into the Olympics.

Djoker joins FedEx in third round

Novak Djokovic joined Roger Federer in making it through to the third round. The World No. 1 breezed past Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at the Court Suzanne Lenglen, named after the two-time French Open winner and one of the first female athletes to have received superstardom.

Speaking of a two-time French Open winner, Djokovic is looking to do exactly that in this year's tournament. The Serb had won his first Roland Garros crown in 2016 and is aiming to repeat that success. In order to do so, he will next have to overcome Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania.

Indian connection on song

Indian-origin American Rajeev Ram started his campaign with a victory in the men's doubles category. Ram, a Rio 2016 silver-medallist, comfortably reached the next round with his British partner Joe Salisbury. They defeated the Italian-Spanish duo of Salvatore Caruso and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5, 6-3.

World no. 1 Barty retires injured

Ashleigh Barty will play no further part in this year's French Open, after being forced to retire owing to a hip injury. The top seed was competing in Paris since her maiden Grand Slam title victory there in 2019. She retired while trailing 1-6, 2-2 to Magda Linette of Poland. Barty suffered the injury during her opening round victory over American Bernarda Pera. Unfortunately, for the world No.1 that injury resurfaced again in her clash versus Linette.

Svitolina, Gauff in complete control

Elsewhere, World no. 6 Elina Svitolina reprised the dynamic of her first-round win to oust Ann Li 6-0, 6-4. Svitolina has now reached at least the third round in seven out of her nine appearances at Roland Garros. Up next for the Ukrainian will be freshly crowned Internationaux de Strasbourg champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.

Exciting teenager Cori Gauff beat Wang Qiang of China 6-3, 7-6 in the second round. This was the pair's second meeting in less than a month on a clay court. Gauff and Qiang had met in the final of the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma last month, with the former going on to win her second WTA title that day. Much to the delight of the 17-year-old Gauff, Thursday's outcome wasn't any different either.

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