PARIS: Belgian David Goffin, at 21 the youngest player left in the draw, beat Pole Lukasz Kubot 7-6, 7-5, 6-1 on Friday to become the first lucky loser to reach the French Open fourth round since records started being kept in 1988.
World number 109 Goffin, who beat France’s Arnaud Clement and Czech 23rd seed Radek Stepanek in the previous rounds, is the first lucky loser to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam since compatriot Dick Norman at Wimbledon in 1995.
The baby-faced Goffin, who had lost in the third round of qualifying, was inserted in the main draw after France’s Gael Monfils pulled out injured.
In front of an ecstatic flag-waving Belgian crowd on the tiny Court 7, Goffin outplayed Kubot, the world number 49, wrapping it up after two hours and 32 minutes with a jaw-dropping forehand passing shot.
He will next face either Swiss third seed and 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer or Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.
Ana Ivanovic loses : Meanwhile, former champion Ana Ivanovic went out of the French Open on Friday, beaten 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 by Italian claycourt specialist Sara Errani in an erratic third-round display.
Ivanovic, the Roland Garros winner in 2008 and a former world number one, started well on the Suzanne Lenglen showcourt but her game deteriorated and, at one stage in the final set, she hit three double faults in a row.
Errani, seeded 21st while Ivanovic was number 13, served well and won points at the net before taking victory on her second match point when the Serbian put a forehand wide.
On the otherhand, Maria Sharapova made up for lost time as she hurried into the third round of the French Open with a 6-1, 6-1 pummelling of Japan’s Ayumi Morita on Friday.
The Russian second seed had been scheduled to face Morita on Thursday but failed to get on to Centre Court after Paul-Henri Mathieu took almost six hours to beat John Isner.
On Thursday, she refused to hang around longer than necessary on a cold and blustery Suzanne Lenglen Court and whipped winners at will to end 84th-ranked Morita’s challenge as the clock ticked over the hour mark. (Agencies)
