French Open 2016 Results: Friday Winners, Scores, Stats and Singles Draw Update

Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams both booked their spots in the final of the French Open with superb performances in their respective semi-finals on Friday

Djokovic was far too good for Dominic Thiem, coasting past the Austrian in what was his first-ever Grand Slam semi-final. A brilliant win for second seed Andy Murray over reigning champion Stanislas Wawrinka in the other final-four showdown set up what is sure to be a fascinating climax to the tournament.

Meanwhile, after her two-set win over Kiki Bertens, Williams stands on the brink of history, with the chance to level Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles on Saturday. Fourth-seed Garbine Muguruza will be a major obstacle, though, as she blitzed her way past Samantha Stosur in the second semi.

Here are the results in full from the day and a closer examination of how the action panned out.

 

Top Seeds Shine on Friday

With their final scheduled for Saturday it was the women who took to the Paris clay courts first on Friday, with Williams and Muguruza the big favourites to progress. Neither of the two stars disappointed.

The world No. 1 wouldn’t have expected to face Bertens, who was unseeded at Roland Garros, at this stage of the tournament. But the Dutchwoman put up an exceptional fight in the first set, carving out a set point at 4-5 and then again in a tiebreak. But Williams, as she so often does, came up with big shots at big moments to take the opener.

From there, despite the best efforts of Bertens, Williams started to move through the gears, taking the third of three match points in the second set. The 21-time Grand Slam champion did reveal some possible injury issues ahead of the final, though, per Ben …

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