Coria retains favourite tag
Third seed Guillermo Coria confirmed his status as favourite at the French Open as he crushed Croatia’s Mario Ancic in straight sets to book his place in the fourth round.
The Argentinian completed his third three-set victory in a row in this year’s tournament after thrashing Ancic 6-3 6-1 6-2 in only one hour and 43 minutes.
After his win in the second round over compatriot Juan Monaco, Coria had issued a warning to his rivals by claiming his form and mental strength had never been stronger.
That warning was confirmed today, as after winning the first two sets in jut over one hour, he heaped the pressure on Ancic by breaking his serve twice in the third set to take a 5-2 lead, with his serve to come.
Coria had then no problems wrapping up the match following Ancic’s wide shot.
He will next face France’s Nicolas Escude who defeated Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 6-2.
Earlier, 20th seed Marat Safin of Russia finished a five-set marathon second-round clash with Spain’s Felix Mantilla by winning 6-4 2-6 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 11-9 in four hours and 39 minutes over Thursday and Friday.
Safin will face Potito Starace after Starace sprung a surprise by crushing 10th seed Sebastien Grosjean of France in straight sets on Thursday.
And Safin is expecting a tough encounter against the Italian.
He said: “I saw him play and he is a great player, he seems to be able to do everything.
“He also just beat Grosjean and probably gave him a lot of confidence. But I will be there. I need more wins to gain more confidence too.”
In Tim Henman’s half of the draw, number 22 seed Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentina earned victory over Spain’s Alex Corretja 6-4 6-4 4-6 6-3.
Henman’s fourth round opponent Michael Llodra came out on top in an all-French encounter against Julien Jeanpierre, cruising to a 6-2 6-2 6-3 success.
