Ruud, Rybakina gain momentum at French Open

PARIS: Fourth seed Casper Ruud stayed on course to reach consecutive finals at the French Open even as a couple of unheralded names in the women’s competition continued to show their immense potential on a sunny Thursday at Roland Garros. Fourth seed Elena Rybakina also booked her third round spot with a 6-3 6-3 victory over rising Czech teenager Linda Noskova as the Wimbledon champion impressed again on Parisian clay as one of the top contenders for the Grand Slam title. Ruud, who was beaten by Rafa Nadal in last year’s final, is aiming to capitalise on the 14-times champion’s absence through injury this year and looked rock solid for much of his 6-3 6-2 4-6 7-5 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri. “It was a tough match,” Ruud said. “I started well, got a break early and served well myself. That’s the beauty of best-of-five sets. In a normal match I would have won 6-3 6-2, but here you have the chance to fight like he did. “He played much better in the third set and the fourth set, and it became very tough.”

Russian qualifier Mirra Andreeva continued to enjoy a dream Grand Slam debut as the 16-year-old stormed into the third round with a 6-1 6-2 win over Frenchwoman Diane Parry, though she admitted to having butterflies in her stomach. “I’m happy that you don’t see that I’m nervous,” the youngster added. “I hide it pretty well.” American Kayla Day made no secret of her success after her stunning 6-2 4-6 6-4 win over compatriot Madison Keys, thanking her Czech roots for enhancing her tennis skills. “My mom, she was born and raised in Prague, and I speak fluent Czech. That’s the only reason why I’m good at tennis, because I’m half Czech.” Croatian Borna Coric was made to work hard by Pedro Cachin before the 15th seed prevailed 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 while it was the end of the road for Australian 18th seed Alex de Minaur who fell to a 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 defeat by Tomas Martin Etcheverry.