PARIS, May 30-- Top-positioned Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka secured their third round spots in different manners at French Open, while all Chinese players have bowed out in singles following No. 16 seed Wang Qiang's elimination here on Thursday. Djokovic won 81 percent on his first serves, and conceded 11 fewer unforced errors than Swiss Henri Laaksonen, reaching last 32 by a commanding score of 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. The men's top seed will take on Italian qualifier Salvatore Caruso in their first career meeting. "It's really interesting, the third match in a row that I get to play against someone that I have never faced before in a match. That never happened in my career and in a Grand Slam," commented Djokovic. No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem, last year's beaten finalist, labored to a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5 victory over Alexander Bublik, while fifth-seeded Alexander Zverev continued his trip by overcoming Mikael Ymer 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (3). The eighth seed Juan Martin del Potro survived a five-set thriller to see off Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2 after three hours and 46 minutes. Osaka was forced a full-set victory over former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka once again after bouncing back from the brink of elimination in her opener of the campaign. Osaka conceded the first set before trailing 2-4 in the followed-up. However, she managed to get rid of another seemingly early exit at 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. |