French Open 2021 – Federer beat Koepfer: Roger Federer found a way to beat Germany’s Dominik Koepfer in the French Open, despite being far from his best in a scrappy third-round match.
Federer, 39, lacked fluency and trust in his game before coming through to win 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 at a near-empty Roland Garros.
French Open 2021 – Federer beat Koepfer: The Swiss 20-time Grand Slam champion clinched victory after three hours and 35 minutes at 00:43 local time.
He will play Italian ninth seed Matteo Berrettini in the last 16.
Berrettini, 25, reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-4 win over South Korea’s Kwon Soon-woo.
French Open 2021: Nadal beats Norrie to set fourth round clash with Sinner
A relentless Rafa Nadal cruised into the last 16 of the French Open for the 16th time on Saturday, with a brutal 6-3 6-3 6-3 dismantling of Briton Cameron Norrie.
Nadal, who won his 13th title at Roland Garros last year, extended his run at the claycourt Grand Slam to an unbelievable 30 sets won in a row. He last dropped a set against Dominic Thiem in the 2019 final.
Norrie, the world number 45, battled gamely against the third seed, even breaking Nadal twice in the second set, but the ruthless Spaniard reeled him back in on both occasions, before serving out the one-sided contest a shade over two hours.
French Open 2021: Djokovic enters 12th straight French Open fourth round
world number one Novak Djokovic booked his spot in the second week of the French Open with a dominant 6-1 6-4 6-1 third-round win over 93rd-ranked Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis on Saturday.
The 34-year-old Serbian came into the match with a 3-0 head-to-head record against Berankis, who had never won a set in their previous meetings, and put in a clinical show on Philippe Chatrier court to stay on course for a 19th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic broke his opponent’s serve six times in the match and such was his domination that he did not face a single breakpoint on his own, losing just five points off his first service.