A relentless Novak Djokovic shrugged off Juan Martin del Potro while Andy Murray overcame a nasty ankle injury as the second and fourth seeds joined champion Rafa Nadal in the French Open fourth round on Saturday.
An impromptu night's rest after Friday's match was suspended because of bad light at the end of the second set allowed Djokovic to swing the momentum back his way and take his 2011 winning streak to 40 matches with 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph.
Murray thrashed Germany's Michael Berrer 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 despite turning his ankle when trying to slide on the clay to reach a ball early in the second set.
The Briton, yet to win a Grand Slam title having lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open final in January, had extensive strapping and was able to carry on despite continued winces and an immediate loss of serve.
Perspiration rather than inspiration had been the hallmarks of Murray's campaign so far but, apart from the injury and the navy-coloured shirt he shared with Nadal, the blues disappeared.
If fit, Murray next meets Serbia's 15th seed Viktor Troicki, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Nadal has it easy
Champion Nadal stuttered through his first two matches but was all smiles in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win over Croat qualifier Antonio Veic with his recent vulnerability only in evidence on first serve in the first set and when broken twice in the second.
“I felt things were much better than the previous days. I'm happy about that, I've got to continue that way,” Nadal said.
Bidding for a sixth title here in seven years, the Spaniard enters round four with much more confidence but with much more dangerous opponents to come who could exploit a nervousness caused by recent Madrid and Rome losses to Djokovic.
The Serb faced his toughest test since those finals when coming back out onto a packed and sunbaked court with 2009 U.S. Open champion and 25th seed del Potro threatening to upset all the pre-tournament predictions of more Djokovic success.
Big queues
But any belief the Argentine has picked up by levelling late in Friday's gloom evaporated when Djokovic broke for 4-2 in the third set having earlier fought off two break points including with one tremendous slugging rally of 23 shots.
Del Potro then double-faulted to hand the World No. 2 one of the three breaks in the third game of the fourth as he nears John McEnroe's record of 42 wins since the start of a year.
Djokovic now locks horns with home favourite Richard Gasquet, who won through on Friday along with Roger Federer. China's lightning-quick Li Na earlier wrapped up an easy women's third-round victory over Romanian Sorana Cirstea before most of the fans had arrived.
Big queues for the middle Saturday were still forming on the streets when sixth seed Li, the Australian Open runner-up, sealed a 6-2, 6-2 win on a quarter-full Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Organisers were happy with Li's speedy work given an elongated programme because of Djokovic's tie being rolled over.
Over on Court Philippe Chatrier down the tree and boutique-lined way, fourth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus easily got the better of Italy's Roberta Vinci with a 6-3, 6-2 win which further highlighted her strong title credentials.
“I think I played very well. I was serving well, dominating, and trying to be as aggressive on her serve,” Azarenka said.
With top seeds Caroline Wozniacki and Kim Clijsters crashing out and several players missing with injury, any woman left could realistically triumph in next Saturday's final and Azarenka has continued her good form from the buildup events.
Czech ninth seed Petra Kvitova, who won the hardcourt Paris Open in February, is another contender and beat American Vania King 6-4 6-2 as Ekaterina Makarova and Andrea Petkovic also won.
Paes-Bhupathi bow out
In doubles, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi bowed out with a straight-set defeat against unseeded Australian combination of Stephen Huss and Ashley Fisher.
The formidable third seed Indian pair lost 6-7(7), 4-6 in the second round in a contest that last an hour and 32 minutes. There was only one breakpoint in the whole match, which Fisher and Huss converted in the second set to move to the next level. — Agencies
Men: Third round: 2-Novak Djokovic (Srb) bt 25-Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; 1 -Rafael Nadal (Esp) bt Antonio Veic (Cro) 6-1, 6-3, 6-0; 4-Andy Murray (GBR) bt Michael Berrer (Ger) 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; 15-Viktor Troicki (Srb) bt 21-Aleksandr Dolgopolov (Ukr) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) bt Lukas Rosol (Cze) 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5); 18-Gilles Simon (Fra) bt 10-Mardy Fish (USA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
14-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt 17-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 4-6, 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3; 13-Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt 23-Thomaz Bellucci (Bra) 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Doubles: Second round: Stephen Huss & Ashley Fisher (Aus) bt 3-Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) 7-6(7), 6-4.
Women: Third round: 6 -Li Na (Chn) bt Sorana Cirstea (Rom) 6-2, 6-2; 9-Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt Vania King (USA) 6-4, 6-2; Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) bt 16-Kaia Kanepi (Est) 6-4, 7-5; 4-Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt 30-Roberta Vinci (Ita) 6-3, 6-2.
3-Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Anastasia Rodionova (Aus) 6-2, 6-3.
Mixed doubles: Leander Paes (Ind) & Iveta Benesova (Cze) bt Chia-Jung Chuang (Tpe) & Marcin Matkowsk (Pol) 6-4, 7-6 .
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