Osaka\'s Roland Garros dream shattered by Siniakova

Osaka's Roland Garros dream shattered by Siniakova

AFP  |  Paris 

World number one Naomi Osaka's hopes of winning a third successive Grand Slam ended Saturday when she was knocked out of in the third round by unheralded of the

Japanese top seed Osaka, the reigning US and champion, crashed to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat to the 42nd-ranked Czech.

"Losing is probably the best thing that could have happened," said 21-year-old Osaka, the reigning Australian and champion.

"I felt very tired. In the other matches I had headaches, maybe that's the stress.

"I felt there was a weight on me. This hasn't been the happiest of times."

Osaka's defeat left just four of the women's top 10 seeds in the tournament including three-time winner and defending champion

Osaka was undone by a shocking 38 unforced errors as she finally ran out of luck in having had to come back from a set down in her first two matches.

"I played my best and I hope it continues," said Siniakova, who was the women's doubles champion in in 2018 alongside

Osaka dropped the first set for the third successive match at the tournament, squandering seven break points in all.

Siniakova made her pay, breaking for 5-4 and taking the opener when Osaka sent back her 16th unforced error of the set.

The Czech, who is the world's number one doubles player, kept up the pressure on the misfiring top seed, breaking for a 3-2 lead in the second set.

Siniakova backed it up with another break for 5-2 off Osaka's third double fault of the match.

Victory was hers on when Osaka unleashed another misguided forehand.

The Czech goes on to face Madison Keys of the for a place in the quarter-finals in what will be her first appearance in the last 16 of the majors.

Despite being seeded top for the first time at a Slam, Osaka never looked convincing in

She was two points away from defeat in the first round against and came back from a set and break down to see off in round two.

There were no such problems for men's world number one who eased into the last 16, stepping up his bid to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously for the second time.

The Serbian saw off unseeded Italian 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a fourth-round tie with either Germany's or Croatian 13th seed

"Finally, I think I found my best form in the second set," said Djokovic, who is yet to drop a set in the tournament.

It is the 10th successive year the top seed has reached the second week -- and 13th in total -- as he looks for a second after sealing his first 'Djoko' Slam in Paris in 2016.

German fifth seed needed another five-setter to reach the fourth round, defeating Serbia's 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 6-2.

Zverev, whose best run at a Slam came in Paris last year when he made the quarter-finals, will face Italy's for a place in the last-eight.

Fognini needed four sets to defeat Spanish 18th seed 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

Crowd favourite Tsitsipas became the first Greek in 83 years to reach the second week at as he survived a scare against

The sixth seed led by two sets when the match was suspended at 5-5 in the third due to darkness just before 10:00pm on Friday.

- Greek breakthrough for Tsitsipas -

====================================

On the resumption Saturday, Tsitsipas lost the set in a tie-break but sealed a 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (8/6) success on Court Philippe Chatrier.

The 20-year-old will take on former champion for a place in his second Grand Slam quarter-final.

Wawrinka, the 2015 champion and a three-time major winner, recorded his 500th match win with a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (10/8) win over

As temperatures nudged close to the 30-degree mark, Halep decided not to hang around.

The Romanian third seed stormed to a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing of Ukrainian 27th seed

Halep next faces either Olympic champion or Polish teenager

Williams is bidding to reach the second week for the 13th time as she continues her pursuit of equalling Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titles.

The 37-year-old faces fellow American who wasn't born when Williams made her debut in Paris in 1998.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, June 01 2019. 21:25 IST