Tsonga, Ferrer and Raonic all safely through
Rafael Nadal was in ominous form as he brushed aside Denis Istomin to reach the third round of the French Open in Paris.
The Spaniard, seeded second behind Novak Djokovic,
is looking for a seventh title at Roland Garros this year and will take some stopping if his performance against Istomin is anything to go by.Nadal
was simply imperious despite a valiant display from his opponent with his forehand reeling off countless winners.He eventually recorded a one-sided 6-2 6-2 6-0 victory in one hour 50 minutes on Suzanne Lenglen.
The second seed has only lost one French Open match since his debut in 2005 and was always in control against the world number 43 from Uzbekistan.
He took full advantage on his opponent's second serve, breaking twice in each of the opening two sets before rattling through a third in which he did not lose a point on serve.
Istomin's only chances came in set two, but he was unable to capitalise on either of the two break points he fashioned.
Nadal has now only dropped nine games in the six sets he has played in the tournament so far following his 6-2 6-2 6-1 opening-round win over Italian Simone Bolelli.
He will face the winner of the match between 32nd-seeded German Florian Mayer and Argentina's
Eduardo Schwank in the next round.Tsonga hits form
Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gave the home crowds something to cheer early on Thursday as he returned to complete a comfortable win over German qualifier Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.Tsonga had struggled for fluency when the game got underway on Wednesday and looked to have a real battle on his hands when the match was halted overnight at one set all and 1-1 in the third.
But the Frenchman was a different animal after play resumed on Thursday and set the tone by breaking his opponent in the first game back on court.
From that point he was barely troubled and, after taking the third, raced through the fourth set to seal a 6-2 4-6 6-2 6-1 success.
"Yesterday the wet conditions were not favouring me," he explained afterwards. "I was not able to play my usual (attacking) game. I could not serve an ace, could not fire winners from the baseline.
"In that case, we are in a game of cat and mouse and I'm not too good at that. I could not focus, I was starting to lose it a bit."
Tsonga will now face either Serbian Viktor Troicki or Fabio Fognini of Italy in the next round.
Sixth seed David Ferrer enjoyed an easy time of things as he cruised to a one-sided 6-3 6-3 6-3 triumph over France's Benoit Paire.
Rising Canadian talent Milos Raonic defeated qualifier Jesse Levine 6-4 7-5 6-2 and John Isner lost an epic contest with Paul Henri-Mathieu later in the day to end American interest in the men's draw.
Isner
is due on court later on Thursday when he will take on Frenchman
Paul-Henri Mathieu, aiming to secure a place in the third round at
Roland Garros for only the second time in his career.
Source : SkySport.com
