Tennis:Defending champion Rafael Nadal continued his trouble-free progress at the French Open with a 6-1 6-3 6-4 victory over Eduardo Schwank in the third round this evening.
The Spaniard has had a kind draw but he has looked in superb form and continued in that vein today.
Nadal has spoken openly about how much more relaxed and happy he is this year compared to 2011, when he nevertheless won a sixth Roland Garros title.
It was evident in his performance today, full of exuberant forehands, and far too good for Schwank.
The first set in particular was a stroll for Nadal, but Argentinian Schwank did improve and at least made a match of it in the second and third sets on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The second seed will expect to be tested next, with either big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic or clay-court specialist Juan Monaco to come in the fourth round.
Britain's Andy Murray shook off the effects of a back injury that had taken him to the brink of elimination to pummel his way into the fourth round with a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo on Saturday.
The number four seed's tournament had looked to be over when he needed three massages to treat his back during his second-round match against Jarkko Nieminen, but he showed no signs of discomfort as he made light work of Giraldo.
He broke in the sixth game of the first set and never looked like relinquishing control as his never-say-die defence and a series of rip-roaring forehands gradually wore down his opponent's fragile resilience. Murray will now face 17th seed Richard Gasquet, who beat 34-year-old German Tommy Haas 6-7 6-3 6-0 6-0.
Murray said he had felt better on Friday and had done some light practice. “I woke up this morning again feeling better than I did, but that's because of the work my physio has done the last 48 hours and all the recovery work that we've done between the last match and now," he told a news conference.
“So obviously with the rest and doing all the right things, I felt better.”
On a hot day at Roland Garros, Russian Mikhail Youzhny melted hearts when he scrawled the word "SORRY!" in the clay with the toe of his shoe after winning only six points in the first eight games of a three-set thrashing by Spanish sixth seed David Ferrer.
“I just wanted to say sorry to the fans because they came to see a beautiful match but I simply could not give them that,” Youzhny said after the 6-0 6-2 6-2 defeat.
Eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic and Nicolas Almagro, seeded 12, will meet in the fourth round after both had comfortable wins today.
Spaniard Almagro is a real clay-court specialist, and he was far too good for Leonardo Mayer, winning 6-4 6-1 6-2, while Tipsarevic saw off Frenchman Julien Benneteau 6-3 7-5 6-4.
Benneteau far exceeded expectations by playing in the French Open at all after fracturing his elbow in a match against Andy Murray in Monte Carlo six weeks ago.
Tipsarevic was making his first appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier, and he said: “I was a little bit lost at the beginning because all the courts here at Roland Garros are generally really narrow and small.
“Philippe Chatrier, it was my first time playing on that court, and it’s just huge, a huge court, and it’s not easy to get used to. But I was focused, and I was fighting from the first point on for every point until the end of the match. That’s the main reason why I managed to finish in straight sets.”