French Open 2013 Scores: Complete Recap of Saturday's Grand Slam Action
The 2013 French Open is the second major tournament of the season so far, joining the Australian Open as tennis pros' first two chances to win a Grand Slam title and have their name etched in eternal glory.
Day 7 of 2013 at Roland Garros helped eliminate a number of contenders to that second major throne of the year.
Eight men's and women's singles matches were played on Saturday in Paris, with some of the sports' biggest stars in action on short rest after weather conditions plagued the tournament committee through the first few days of action.
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Among those on the clay courts was seven-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and world No. 1 player Novak Djokovic on the men's side, while Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka headlined the women's draw with Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Jamie Hampton and Sloane Stephens all in action.
Let's take a look at all the action from Roland Garros on Saturday with a mind toward the rest of the upcoming week in France.
Complete 2013 French Open Day 7 Results
| Match | Score |
| Men's Draw | |
| Tommy Haas (12) def. John Isner (19) | 7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6 (10-8) |
| Mikhail Youzhny (29) def. Janko Tipsarevic (8) | 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 |
| Rafael Nadal (3) def. Fabio Fognini (27) | 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| Richard Gasquet (7) def. Nikolay Davydenko | 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 |
| Stanislas Wawrinka (9) def. Jerzy Janowicz (21) | 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 |
| Philipp Kohlschreiber (16) def. Victor Hanescu | 6-0, 7-6, 6-1 |
| Novak Djokovic (1) def. Grigor Dimitrov (26) | 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 |
| Kei Nishikori (13) def. Benoit Paire (24) | 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 |
| Women's Draw | |
| Bethanie Mattek-Sands def. Paula Ormaechea | 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 |
| Jamie Hampton def. Petra Kvitova (7) | 6-1, 7-6 |
| Francesca Schiavone def. Marion Bartoli (13) | 6-2, 6-1 |
| Sloane Stephens (17) def. Marina Erakovic | 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 |
| Maria Kirilenko (12) def. Stefanie Voegele | 7-6, 7-5 |
| Maria Sharapova (2) def. Jie Zheng | 6-1, 7-5 |
| Jelena Jankovic (18) def. Samantha Stosur (9) | 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| Victoria Azarenka (3) def. Alize Cornet (31) | 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 |
*Men's, women's and mixed doubles were also part of the draw on Saturday. For a complete look at the results from the 2013 French Open, visit RolandGarros.com.
Top Stories from Saturday's Action
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Nadal and Djokovic were both in action on Saturday, while Roger Federer and David Ferrer had both already assured their spots in the fourth round with wins over opponents on Friday afternoon.
While the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds had a break on Saturday, the other duo that makes up the top four in seeding found a way to avoid any controversy in relatively easy straight-set wins in both of their matches.
Djokovic had a highly anticipated match with Sharapova's beau Grigor Dimitrov, a man who beat him earlier this month in straight-set fashion. With that victory coming on clay in Madrid, there was a case to be made that the challenger would have the upper hand in the early part of the match.
It was not to be—and it wasn't even close.
Djokovic took care of Dimitrov in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, and put any theories of another early upset at the French Open to rest for good rather quickly in this match. Having never one the French Open in his professional career, Djokovic is on the short list of guys to watch to take over Nadal's throne.
Speaking of Nadal, he also took care of an opponent in straight sets. Roland Garros had this tweet as Nadal moved one step closer to French Open title No. 8:
Playing less than 24 hours after his last match, you could tell early on that some fatigue and focus were missing from the usually-dominated Spaniard's game against Fabio Fognini. Although Fognini took Nadal to the tiebreak in the first set, the reigning champion took both of the next two sets and will get some rest before his fourth-round match.
Now both men will gear up for the fourth round and a new opponent, while Djokovic will do so with a heavy heart. The news of the passing of his first coach, Jelena Gencic, was not revealed until after the match with Dimitrov was over.
It will be interesting to monitor his emotions the rest of the way.
United States Women
The U.S. women's singles effort at the 2013 French Open has been outstanding.
We all know about Williams, the world's No. 1 women's player, but she hasn't won in Paris since 2002—the same tournament that last featured an American woman raising the final trophy in front of the Roland Garros faithful.
This will be Serena's first fourth-round appearance at this tournament since 2010, the last time she was in the quarterfinals after not playing in 2011 and suffering a first-round loss last year.
Elsewhere, up-and-comer Sloane Stephens was one of three other American women to move on to the fourth round, taking down Marina Erakovic to set up a showdown with No. 2 Maria Sharapova in what should be an exciting match of the established versus the future.
This will be here second-straight French Open in at least the fourth round and a big step forward after making it to the semifinals at the Australian Open earlier in the year.
The other two Americans still in the mix—Mattek-Sands and Hampton—are both spearheading the United States' effort to bring home the trophy this year, as noted by ESPN's Jim Caple on Saturday.
With a fourth of the final 16 women from America, there are high hopes for the United States to find a way to pull off a big upset against the likes of Sharapova, Azarenka and the rest of the high-seeded women to make a splash on the national stage.
Look Ahead to Round 4
| Men's Draw | Women's Draw |
| Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Phillipp Kohlschreiber (16) | Serena Williams (1) vs. |
| Tommy Haas (12) vs. Mikhail Youzhny (29) | Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Angelique Gerber (8) |
| Rafael Nadal (3) vs. Kei Nishikori (13) | Agnieszka Radwanska (4) vs. Ana Ivanovic (14) |
| Stanislas Wawrinka (9) vs. Richard Gasquet (7) | Carla Suarez Navarro (20) vs. Sara Errani (5) |
| Tommy Robredo (32) vs. Nicolas Almagro (11) | Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. |
| Kevin Anderson (23) vs. David Ferrer (4) | Francesca Schiavone vs. Victoria Azarenka (3) |
| Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (6) vs. Viktor Troicki | Jamie Hampton vs. Jelena Jankovic (18) |
Gilles Simon (15) vs. | Sloane Stephens (17) vs. |
*Complete schedule and draws can be found at RolandGarros.com.
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