Caroline Wozniacki returns the ball to Pauline Parmentier, during their women’s singles third round match on day six of the French Open in Paris on June 1, 2018.THOMAS SAMSON/Getty Images
Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki cruised into the fourth round of the French Open on Friday, but the same cannot be said for another top-5 seed.
Wozniacki, the reigning Australian Open champ former world No. 1, swept France’s Paula Parmentier, 6-0, 6-3, at Roland Garros. The Danish Wozniacki will now face 14 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia, a 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 winner against Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
“I feel pretty good. I think I played some solid tennis and I’m happy to be through to the fourth round here again,” Wozniacki told the media after the match. “You know, it gets harder and harder with every match. I’m happy to be here.”
One person who cannot say the same is fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. She was defeated by 31st-seeded Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania, 6-3, 7-5.
“Today, really, I was off and couldn’t find my rhythm, my game. I was really struggling,” Svitolina said. “On the other hand, she was playing great tennis. You know, she was really, really on the ball. I couldn’t do much to get a win. It was not enough.”
American Madison Keys was also a winner, beating Japan’s Naomi Osaka 6-1, 7-6(9). The win equals the 13th seed’s best showing at the French Open, as she also advanced to the fourth round in 2016.
“I’m figuring it out a little bit more every time I’m on this surface,” Keys said after the match. “It grows on me a little bit more every year. A lot of times I either get too passive or too aggressive, so it’s about finding that middle ground and remembering great matches which I have had on clay courts.”
Keys and Buzarnescu will face off in the fourth round.
Also on Friday, Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan needed three sets to get by China’s Qiang Wang, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, while Barbora Strycova swept fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-2, 6-3.
Rain suspended play on Friday with two women’s matches yet to begin. American Sloane Stephens, the 10 seed, will face Camila Giorgi of Italy and No. 8 Petra Kvitova will face Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit in matches rescheduled for Saturday.
In women’s doubles, sisters Venus and Serena Williams advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Sara Errani of Italy and Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium. The Williams sisters last won a women’s doubles Grand Slam in 2016 at Wimbledon. They haven’t won the French Open since 2010