PARIS — Roger Federer reached the last 16 of the French Open tennis tournament for the 11th straight year yesterday, coasting past Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
The Swiss second seed, whose only title win at Roland Garros came in 2009, held his serve throughout as he made it to the fourth round without dropping a set. He will play either Gael Monfils of France or Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay for a place in the quarter-finals.
Dzumhur, to date the only man from Bosnia-Herzegovina to play in a major, had been aiming to reach a Grand Slam last 16 for the first time.
Former champion Ana Ivanovic also reached the French Open last 16 in just 53 minutes yesterday while Alize Cornet kept home hopes alive by making the second week for the first time.
Serbian seventh seed Ivanovic, the 2008 champion, triumphed over 18-year-old Croatian opponent Donna Vekic 6-0, 6-3. In dramatic contrast, 29th seeded Frenchwoman Cornet needed two and a half hours to defeat 33-year-old Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a match scarred by 85 unforced errors.
Ivanovic won the first seven games before Vekic, the world number 165 and playing in the third round of a major for the first time, stopped the rot and broke for 2-1 in the second set.
But that was as good as it got for the teenager as Ivanovic, watched by German football star boyfriend Bastian Schweinsteiger, swept into a fourth round clash against ninth-seeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova. — AFP.