Darkness came too soon to allow a finish to the last two matches in the men’s Round of 16 at the French Open. This means Frenchman Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga, the No. 5 seed, will have to finish the fifth set of his match against 18th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka on Monday. Tsonga is up a break in the fifth set, 4-2. Tsonga, the highest-ranked French player in the field at the beginning of the tournament, always enjoys a good run in the first week at Roland Garros, but has never made it past the quarterfinals.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych Can’t Finish Round 4 Matches Sunday
Seventh seed Tomas Berdych and ninth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, also were unable to finish their match, having completed three sets with Berdych leading two sets to one. Berdych has never made it past the semifinal of a French Open.
The women were all able to get their matches in -- it helps that no match can go longer than three sets -- and sixth-seeded Aussie Samantha Stosur was able to advance into the quarters. Stosur, the reigning U.S. Open champ, reached the final at Roland Garros in 2010, falling to Francesca Schaivone that year. Stosur ended the run of 19-year-old American Sloane Stephens, 7-5, 6-4. Something tells me that, since her loss was on clay and not at home, Stephens is someone we should remember, and not a Melanie Oudin repeat.
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