Djokovic, Serena suffer quarterfinal exit at French Open
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Stosur wrecked the Grand Slam hopes of Williams, outplaying the world number one and top seed 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 8-6 in a thrilling French Open quarter-final. [Xinhua Photo] |
The men's singles third seed Novak Djokovic from Serbia and the women's singles top seed Serena Williams of the United States failed to advance into the semifinals at the French Open on Wednesday.
Facing first time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Jurgen Melzer, Djokovic took the first two sets easily in 6-3, 6-2, but lost the following three to the 22nd seed Austrian in 6-2, 7-6 (3) and 6-4.
"I made a big mistake, you know, there. I made him come back into the match with my unforced errors, and then he caught the momentum and he was playing really well, especially on his service games," said an extremely disappointed Djokovic.
"I'm very disappointed, obviously, to lose the match that I was in control of totally a set and a break. This is tennis, you know. This is Grand Slams. You always have to play up to the end, because these things happen, especially at this stage of tournament," said the 2008 Australian Open champion.
Melzer, 29, didn't lose his fighting will even though he lost the opening two sets. "The only thing I told myself, It's my first quarterfinals in my life in a Grand Slam. Just don't go away. Just don't make it easy for him."
Melzer is going to meet the world No. 2 Rafael Nadal as the four time French Open champion fought hard to see off his Spanish compatriot Nicolas Almagro in 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) and 6-4.
After the men's singles top seed Roger Federer being knocked out the quarterfinals by Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling on Tuesday, the women's singles top seed Serena Williams bowed out from the same stage.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion was beaten by Australian Samathan Stosur 2-6, 7-6 (2) and 6-8, but got some comfort from the doubles semifinal victory together with her elder sister Venus Williams.
The seventh seed Stosur will play Serbian ace Jelena Jankovic as the fourth seed overcame Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan in 7-5, 6-4.
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