French Open 2016: Saturday Results, Highlights, Scores Recap from Roland Garros

Serena and Venus Williams took another step toward a possible semifinal clash at the 2016 French Open with victories during Saturday’s third-round action. Timea Bacsinszky, the other top-10 seed left in the top half of the women’s draw, also advanced.  

Meanwhile, men’s top seed Novak Djokovic watched a few hurdles on his road to the final get removed over the past couple of days. Rafael Nadal dropped out Friday due to a wrist injury, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired during his match Saturday because of a leg problem, per Steve Tignor of Tennis Magazine.

Let’s check out all of the results from Saturday’s play at Roland Garros. That’s followed by a recap of some notable storylines and a quick look ahead toward Sunday’s top matches.

Men’s Draw Recap

The injury setback for Tsonga comes at an unfortunate time. His section of the draw was there for the taking after Nadal’s departure, and Tsonga’s past success in his home Slam, including a pair of semifinal appearances, made him the obvious choice to fill the void.

He survived a five-set battle with fellow charismatic shot-maker Marcos Baghdatis in the previous round. As it turns, however, the effort he needed in order to survive that challenge seemingly took away his opportunity to make a deep run in the tournament.

Tsonga raced out to a 5-2 edge over Ernests Gulbis before deciding to call it quits. Though he played well enough to build the lead, he wasn’t moving around the court with nearly the ease he usually does, as shown by Roland Garros:

.@tsonga7 breaks Gulbis to go up 3-1, and follows up with a hold. Now leads 4-1*. #RG16 https://t.co/aZTQttnSwe

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2016

His exit presents a golden opportunity for the remaining players in the second quarter of the draw to make a Grand Slam semifinal without having to overcome a top-10 player.

Spanish veteran David Ferrer isn’t in that part of the bracket, but he’s quietly risen into the sleeper conversation through three rounds. Notching consecutive wins on clay over Juan Monaco and Feliciano Lopez while dropping only one set warrants attention.

The No. 11 seed has always been known for his defensive capabilities. His efficiency is what could make the difference this time around, though. He managed to rack up 35 winners with just 12 unforced errors, a terrific ratio, to knock off Lopez in straights.

Brad Gilbert of ESPN was impressed with the display from the diminutive counterpuncher:

Strong effort from little beast Ferrerr to take out …

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