Sharapova stunned, Nadal chalks up win number 70 at Roland Garros
PARIS: Andy Murray let his racket, rather than his mouth, do the talking when he silenced Jeremy Chardy with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win in the fourth round of the French Open on Monday.
The Frenchman was critical of Murray’s decision to pull out of last month’s Italian Open, citing exhaustion, after he had lost to the Scot in the second round.
Murray bossed his opponent in the opening set. He let Chardy off the hook in the second but wore him down in the third and went in for the kill in the fourth.
A forehand winner from the third seed left Chardy beating a hasty retreat from Suzanne Lenglen Court while Murray lapped up the applause after notching his 14th successive win on clay.
He next faces Ferrer for a place in the semifinals.
In the other match, Rafa Nadal warmed up for a possible quarter-final blockbuster against world number one Novak Djokovic with a 6-3 6-1 5-7 6-2 triumph over American tyro Jack Sock on Monday.
The omens had looked rather foreboding for Sock even before he stepped on court for the fourth round encounter — with his rival holding an 11-0 win-loss record against Americans on clay.
Sock’s hopes of stalling that run looked all but over within the opening exchanges of the contest when he fell 3-0 behind to the nine-times champion.
The Spanish sixth seed, bidding to become the first man to win 10 titles at the same grand slam, will next face either Djokovic or France’s Richard Gasquet.
Meanwhile, Defending champion Maria Sharapova was sent packing from the French Open at the fourth-round stage on Monday, losing in straight sets to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.
Safarova, the 13th seed, won 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 to progress to a first ever quarter-final at Roland Garros.
Sharapova was broken in her second service game, and although she soon broke back.
Breaks were again exchanged in the second set but Sharapova found herself serving to stay in the match at 5-4 down, and while she saved one match point she could not save the second that came her opponent’s way. (Agencies)