Djokovic Murray Serena Kvitova survive

(MENAFN- Arab News) PARIS: Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray reached the French Open third round Thursday setting up intriguing clashes with next generation Australians Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios.
Top seed Djokovic survived a worrying injury scare before coasting to a 6-1 6-4 6-4 win over Gilles Muller of Luxemburg.
Djokovic will face 19-year-old Kokkinakis who saved three match points to beat fellow Australian Bernard Tomic 3-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 8-6.
Djokovic's win over 33-year-old Muller was his 24th consecutive victory this year as he took another step toward a first ever Roland Garros title and a career Grand Slam.
Murray the third seed went into the last 32 with a 6-2 4-6 6-4 6-1 win over Joao Sousa of Portugal.
The Scot took his record to 12-0 on clay this season and he will meet 20-year-old Kyrgios who enjoyed a walkover into the third round when scheduled opponent Kyle Edmund of Britain withdrew with a stomach injury.
'I realized toward the end of the second set he raised his level and I had to tell myself to weather the storm and his level would drop' said Murray who collected a warning for a time violation.
Defending champion and sixth seed Rafael Nadal chasing a 10th Paris title enjoyed a 6-4 6-3 6-1 breeze past Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro.
Nadal will face Andrey Kuznetsov for a place in the last 16 after the Russian defeated Austria's Jurgen Melzer 6-1 5-7 7-6 (7/0) 7-5.
The ninth-seeded Croatian fired 38 winners in a 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 6-1 win over Italian qualifier Andrea Arnaboldi.
Cilic will face Argentine 23rd seed Leonardo Mayer who beat Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-4 6-4 6-7 (1/7) 6-1 for a place in the last 16.
In the women's action Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova survived big scares both needing to come back from a set down to reach the third round.
Williams 19 times a Grand Slam winner survived an almighty fright before finally seeing off the challenge of world No. 105 Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany.
The 33-year-old top-seeded American dropped the first set and faced break points against her unheralded 21-year-old opponent in the second but she rallied just in time to go through 5-7 6-3 6-3.
It had not been her best tennis she agreed.
Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus who eased past Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-2 6-3.
In a day marked by cold blustery conditions fourth seed Kvitova made it through to the last 32 with a 6-7 (4/7) 6-4 6-2 win over Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinosa.
But it was another nervy showing from the Wimbledon champion who was taken to the limit in her opening match against New Zealander Marina Erakovic.
At one stage on the tournament's fifth day it looked like five out of the top 10 seeds could have departed the stage by the end of the day third seed Simona Halep and sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard already having lost.
But as it turned out only fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki was packing her bags for home after the Dane lost 6-4 7-6 (7/4) to an impressive Julia Goerges of Germany.
Like Kvitova German 10th seed Andrea Petkovic had stared defeat in the face only to bounce back from for a 4-6 6-4 6-4 win over Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain.
Meanwhile Sara Errani who lost to Maria Sharapova in the 2012 final also had to claw her way back from being down to defeat German youngster Carina Witthoeft 6-3 4-6 6-2.
There were slow-burning fireworks out on Court One where Svetlana Kuznetsova outlasted Francesca Schiavone in what turned out to be the third longest women's singles match to have been played in the history of the French Open.
It took them 3 hours 50 minutes before Schiavone staggered past the winning post and into the third round 6-7 (11/13) 7-5 10-8 but even that was no match going up against the epic they played at the 2011 Australian Open.