Wrist injury forces Nadal out as Kvitova also exits
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NINE-TIME French Open champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the claycourt grand slam tournament yesterday, citing an injury to his left wrist.
He announced his withdrawal the day before he would have been scheduled to play in the third round.
The left-handed Spaniard wore a blue brace on his wrist during what he called “one of the toughest press conferences in my caree”.
Nadal said that he would not even have tried to compete at any other tournament with the injury, “but it’s the most important event of the year for me”.
He won his second-round match in straight sets on Thursday, playing after getting an injection to numb the pain in his wrist. His withdrawal gives compatriot Marcel Granollers a walkover into the last 16.
It’s also a huge boost to Novak Djokovic’s hopes of lifting a first French Open title.
Nadal and Djokovic were due to meet in the semifinals next Friday — the date of the Spaniard’s 30th birthday.
Earlier, after a pair of five-setters, Andy Murray made it through to the fourth round at Roland Garros in only three.
The second-seeded Murray, who spent more than seven hours on court in the first two rounds, beat Ivo Karlovic 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in Paris.
Murray was in control from the start, quickly jumping to a 5-0 lead. The big-serving, 2.11-meter Karlovic wound up with only 14 aces after hitting a tournament-high 72 aces through the first two rounds.
Milos Raonic also advanced, overcoming an aching hip to beat 133rd-ranked “lucky loser” Andrej Martin of Slovakia 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-3.
Raonic said he will have tests on the aching left hip that led him to ask for painkillers during his match on Court 1. “I just tried to fight through,” the eighth-seeded Canadian said. “I’m happy with the fact that I was able to continue.”
In the women’s draw, Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep and Samantha Stosur all made it through to the fourth round. But two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova lost to Shelby Rogers 0-6, 6-7 (3), 0-6.
Rogers, an American ranked 108th, is now into the fourth round at a grand slam tournament for the first time while Kvitova became the fourth top-10 seed to exit.
The fourth-seeded Muguruza of Spain beat Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-3, 6-0, while Halep had a tougher time against Japanese teen Naomi Osaka. The Romanian won 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in what was the 18-year-old Osaka’s first match against a top-10 player.
Halep, 24, next faces 2010 finalist Stosur, the Australian beating 2015 runner-up Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (0), 7-5.
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