French Open: Federer, Sharapova continue progress

Roger Federer continued his smooth progress at the French Open with a straightforward 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Bosnian Damir Dzumhur to reach the fourth round.

Swiss Federer has won all nine sets he has played at Roland Garros this year as he attempts to win the title for a second time and extend his grand slam haul to 18.

Dzumhur, 10 years younger than Federer, tested his idol on occasion, showing a nice line in drop shots, but he never really threatened to detain the second-seed for too long.

Federer, who lost to Ernests Gulbis in the fourth round last year, will face either French showman Gael Monfils or Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas for a quarter-final place.

Men’s results:

8-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Steve Johnson (U.S.) 6-4 6-3 6-2

2-Roger Federer (Switzerland) beat Damir Dzumhur (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 6-4 6-3 6-2

Teymuraz Gabashvili (Russia) beat Lukas Rosol (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-4 6-4

5-Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat Benjamin Becker (Germany) walkover

Sharapova through

Defending French Open champion Maria Sharapova passed her first serious test with flying colours, dismissing Australian 26th seed Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-4 to reach the last-16.

The second-seed from Russia had too much poise and pace for Stosur, runner-up in 2010 and twice a semi finalist, whose heavy top-spin game can be a handful on clay.

Sharapova, who played in the last three French Open finals, winning two, broke four times to seal a convincing win when Stosur fired a forehand wide.

The five-times grand slam champion will take on Czech 13th seed Lucie Safarova for a quarter-final spot.

Meanwhile, Ana Ivanovic’s French Open campaign picked up momentum when the former champion raced into the fourth round with a 6-0, 6-3 demolition of Croatian Donna Vekic.

The seventh-seed, who won the Roland Garros title in 2008, suffered a minor glitch in the second set when she lost eight points in a row as Vekic moved a break up at 2-1.

Ivanovic, who has never made it past the last 16 here since her triumph, next faces Russian ninth seed Ekaterina Makarova.

Women’s results:

21-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat 11-Angelique Kerber (Germany) 4-6 6-2 6-2 

13-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) beat 20-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 6-3 7-6(2)

9-Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) beat Elena Vesnina (Russia) 6-2 6-4

29-Alize Cornet (France) beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia) 4-6 6-3 7-5

19-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) beat Annika Beck (Germany) 6-3 2-6 6-4

7-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Donna Vekic (Croatia) 6-0 6-3