PARIS: A fully fit again Andy Murray reached the last 16 of the French Open on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Santiago Giraldo of Colombia.
The British fourth-seed will play either Tommy Haas of Germany or Richard Gasquet of France for a place in the quarter-finals.
On his rest day Friday, Murray had been left fielding criticism from such as British legend Virginia Wade and French champion Henri Leconte that he had acted in an unsportsmanlike manner in his win over Jarkko Niemenen on Thursday.
In that tie he had looked down and out in the first few games, clutching at his lower back and legs and needing medical treatment three times.
After dropping the first set 6-1, Murray suddenly settled down in the second and eventually ran out an easy winner.
Many felt his actions could have destabilized his opponent whose game fell apart after the opening set.
Against Giraldo though there was no sign of the back spasms that Murray said had been the problem against Niemenen.
A free-flowing Murray broke in the sixth game of the first set and fifth game of the second set to take a two sets to love lead.
Murray was not having it all his own way and fell behind 1-0 with Giraldo serving in a marathon opening game to the third set.
Games went with serve until the seventh game of the set when once again it was Murray who seized the initiative to close in on a spot in the last 16 for the fourth straight year.
The imperious swagger was absent as Roger Federer recovered from a mid-match wake-up call to move into the French Open fourth round with a 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5 victory over plucky Frenchman Nicolas Mahut.
After nonchalantly striding through the opening set amid effortless calm, Federer suffered a second-set wobble as the world number 89 responded to a partisan home crowd to convert his first break point of the match to level.
But as the glimmer of an upset began to poke through the sombre Parisian sky, Federer righted the listing ship, breaking twice in the third before edging out a resilient Mahut in the fourth.
The Swiss number three seed will now face Belgian David Goffin who beat Poland’s Lukasz Kubot.
Defending champion Li Na was made to work hard to see off 20-year-old American Christina McHale 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 to book her place in the last 16 of the French Open on Saturday.
Chinese seventh seed Li, who last year became the first player from an Asian nation to win a singles grand-slam title, needed almost two hours on a sunsoaked Court Suzanne Lenglen to break the world number 36’s resilience.
Li struggled with her serve and fell a break down in sixth game but immediately broke back. But McHale had more pace and broke again to bag the opening set after 48 minutes. Li upped her game in the second, finding better angles to open a 4-1 lead and steal her the opponent’s serve again to level the tie. She reeled off five games in a row in the decider to wrap it up and set up a last-16 meeting with Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Schvedova.
Earlier on Friday NOvak Djokovic beat France’s Nicolas Devilder 6-1 6-2 6-2.Djokovic was at his clinical best as he despatched France’s Nicolas Devilder in three sets to reach the French Open last 16 and ensure a day off.
Djokovic has never reached the final at Roland Garros, losing to Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals of 2007 and 2008 and Roger Federer last year, and is likely to have to overcome the Swiss superstar if he is to end that hoodoo and keep alive his dream of holding all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously. (Agencies)