Times wires
Saturday, May 28, 2011
PARIS — Novak Djokovic extended his perfect start to the season at the French Open on Saturday, beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for his 40th straight victory.
Djokovic has not lost in 42 matches overall, dating to last year's Davis Cup final.
He and del Potro returned to the court after splitting the first two sets Friday before the match was suspended because of darkness. The No. 2 seed had 41 winners to del Potro's 22 and had four of his five breaks in the last two sets.
"I was managing to control my game a little bit better (Saturday) than I did (Friday)," Djokovic said.
Djokovic's 40-0 start is the second-best opening streak in the Open era, which started in 1968, behind John McEnroe's 42-0 in 1984. His overall winning streak of 42 trails only the 46 of Guillermo Vilas in 1977.
Rafael Nadal, who needed five sets to win his opening match and was shaky in the second, put his struggles behind him, advancing to the fourth round with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win over qualifier Antonio Veic. Nadal had only 18 unforced errors and broke his opponent nine times.
"I did a few things much better than the previous days. Happy for that," Nadal said.
No. 4 Andy Murray moved into the next round, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 over Michael Berrer, despite twisting his right ankle in the second set. He said he would decide later if he could play in the next round.
No. 18 Gilles Simon eliminated 10th-seeded Mardy Fish of Tampa 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
On the women's side, seventh-seeded Maria Sharapova overpowered Yung-Jan Chan 6-2, 6-3. Other winners were No. 6 Li Na and No. 25 Maria Kirilenko, who ended the run of Arantxa Rus. Rus had eliminated second-seeded Kim Clijsters.
