Milos Raonic overcomes sluggish start to advance at French Open
Canadian defeats Dutra Silva in 4 sets
Milos Raonic beat Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Round of 32 at the French Open Wednesday.
Raonic fired his 25th ace of the day on match point to set up a third-round meeting with Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
The two hour, 23 minute match could have been decided quicker had Raonic been more successful on break chances. The fifth seed from Thornhill, Ont., won just five of 20 break points.
After dropping a first set where he was broken twice, Raonic controlled the next two before running into some trouble in the fourth.
Raonic and Dutra Silva held serve until the ninth game, where the Brazilian faced triple break point. But Raonic couldn't put the Brazilian away until his seventh break point, throwing his racket to the ground at one point.
Raonic was 1-for-7 on break points in the fourth set.
Still, Raonic went into game 10 up 5-4 and emphatically put the match away with his booming serve, winning every point with an ace.
Raonic has won both his career meetings with Garcia-Lopez: a Davis Cup win in 2013 and a victory at Miami in 2014, both on hardcourt.
On the women's side, Canadian Francoise Abanda's French Open was halted in a 6-0, 6-0 annihilation to 11th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.
The Montreal player defeated Tessah Andrianjafitrimo in the first round, but failed to keep up with the Danish Wozniacki in their 52-minute match Wednesday.
Wozniacki will face American upstart CiCi Bellis next.
Serena expecting a baby girl?
Venus Williams appears to have accidentally announced her pregnant sister Serena is expecting a girl.
After her second-round win at the French Open, Venus was asked what she wanted the baby to call her.
She said: "She's going to call me 'favourite aunt'."
Serena, who is about six months pregnant, was at Roland Garros on Wednesday, watching her older sister beat Kurumi Nara of Japan in straight sets.
Defending champs move on
Defending champion Novak Djokovic advanced to the third round of the French Open by beating Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.
The second-seeded Serb will next face Diego Schwartzman.
Meanwhile, Garbine Muguruza held on to beat Anett Kontaveit and reach the third round of the French Open.
The Spaniard lost the opening set against the 53rd-ranked Kontaveit but won 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2.
Rafael Nadal was all smiles after defeating Robin Haase 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 on the same court where he won nine French Open titles.
"I'm very happy to come back on the Court Philippe Chatrier," said Nadal, who had 33 winners.
The fourth-seeded Nadal is trying to become the first player in the Open era to win 10 titles at a major. Last year, he withdrew from the tournament ahead of his third-round match because of a wrist injury.
"It was really hard for me last year," Nadal said. "I'm very happy to be back on this court, which is probably the most important in my career."
Kvitova loses first match back
Petra Kvitova's first tournament since she was injured in a knife attack at her home is over.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, who was seeded 15th, lost to American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) at the French Open. Kvitova threw her racket in frustration after she double-faulted on match point, but the players warmly embraced at the net.
Kvitova returned to tennis in Paris after she was attacked in the Czech Republic in December.
Mattek-Sands, a doubles champion at Roland Garros two years ago, received treatment at the end of the first set. She came back on court with a bandage on her left thigh but did not seem hampered in her moves.
Tsonga falls amidst darkness
Back on Court Philippe Chatrier to resume his first-round match against Renzo Olivo, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could not overturn the deficit at the French Open.
Their match was suspended because of darkness on Tuesday with the 12th-seeded Frenchman trailing 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 5-4.
Tsonga lost the first three points on his serve Wednesday but managed to save the three match points. Olivo converted the next one with a forehand crosscourt winner and to win 6-4.
Tsonga had never lost to a player ranked as low as No. 91 at a Grand Slam.
Venus advances
Venus Williams got off to a sluggish start but quickly found her range to beat Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-3, 6-1 and reach the third round of the French Open.
The 10th-seeded Williams, a runner-up in Paris in 2002, trailed 3-1 in the opening set but then won seven consecutive games.
Williams is playing at Roland Garros for the 20th time, a record in the Open era.
"I love being here and I love playing on this court," Williams said. "You never stop learning and that's what I love about the game."
With files from The Associated Press