| 2019 French Open |
|---|
| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 26 May-9 June |
| Coverage: Live text and radio commentary on selected matches on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Former champion Roger Federer became the oldest person to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam since 1991 with victory against Norwegian Casper Ruud.
The 37-year-old, who is the first player in history to play 400 Grand Slam matches, beat his 20-year-old opponent 6-3 6-1 7-6 (10-8).
Federer, playing his first French Open since 2015, has yet to drop a set.
The third seed will face either France’s Nicolas Mahut or Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer in the fourth round.
Federer has now reached the French Open fourth round 14 times – more than any other player in history.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion is the oldest person to reach this stage of a major since Jimmy Connors did so at the 1991 US Open aged 39.
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Ruud held on for his first three service games, but Federer broke him in the fourth and went on to win the next eight games.
The world number 63, playing in the French Open for the second time, managed to avoid losing the second set 6-0 when he held to love at 5-0 down, before Federer closed the set out with ease.
The Swiss was made to work harder in the final set, however. Ruud broke his serve, and although Federer immediately broke back the Norwegian took it to a tie-break. He saved a match point then had set point, but his more experienced opponent claimed another straight-set victory.
Elsewhere, Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori overcame a thrilling five-set battle with Serbian world number 32 Laslo Dere on Court One.
The two-time quarter-finalist won 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 4-6 8-6 in four and a half hours after coming back from two breaks down in the fifth set and will face French world number 38 Benoit Paire in the fourth round.
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French Open 2019: Roger Federer claims a straight-set win against Casper Ruud - BBC Sport
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