French Open 2016: Saturday Results, Highlights, Scores Recap from Roland Garros

Serena and Venus Williams took another step toward a possible semifinal clash at the 2016 French Open with victories during Saturday's third-round action. Timea Bacsinszky, the other top-10 seed left in the top half of the women's draw, also advanced.  

Meanwhile, men's top seed Novak Djokovic watched a few hurdles on his road to the final get removed over the past couple of days. Rafael Nadal dropped out Friday due to a wrist injury, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired during his match Saturday because of a leg problem, per Steve Tignor of Tennis Magazine.

Let's check out all of the results from Saturday's play at Roland Garros. That's followed by a recap of some notable storylines and a quick look ahead toward Sunday's top matches.

Men's Draw Recap

Round	Winning Player	Losing Player	Score
Third	(1) Novak Djokovic	Aljaz Bedene	6-2, 6-3, 6-3
Third	Ernests Gulbis	(6) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	2-5 ret.
Third	(7) Tomas Berdych	(25) Pablo Cuevas	4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5
Third	(11) David Ferrer	(21) Feliciano Lopez	6-4, 7-6, 6-1
Third	(12) David Goffin	Nicolas Almagro	6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
Third	(13) Dominic Thiem	Alexander Zverev	6-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Third	(14) Roberto Bautista Agut	Borna Coric	6-2, 6-3, 6-3

The injury setback for Tsonga comes at an unfortunate time. His section of the draw was there for the taking after Nadal's departure, and Tsonga's past success in his home Slam, including a pair of semifinal appearances, made him the obvious choice to fill the void.

He survived a five-set battle with fellow charismatic shot-maker Marcos Baghdatis in the previous round. As it turns, however, the effort he needed in order to survive that challenge seemingly took away his opportunity to make a deep run in the tournament.

Tsonga raced out to a 5-2 edge over Ernests Gulbis before deciding to call it quits. Though he played well enough to build the lead, he wasn't moving around the court with nearly the ease he usually does, as shown by Roland Garros:

His exit presents a golden opportunity for the remaining players in the second quarter of the draw to make a Grand Slam semifinal without having to overcome a top-10 player.

Spanish veteran David Ferrer isn't in that part of the bracket, but he's quietly risen into the sleeper conversation through three rounds. Notching consecutive wins on clay over Juan Monaco and Feliciano Lopez while dropping only one set warrants attention.

The No. 11 seed has always been known for his defensive capabilities. His efficiency is what could make the difference this time around, though. He managed to rack up 35 winners with just 12 unforced errors, a terrific ratio, to knock off Lopez in straights.

Brad Gilbert of ESPN was impressed with the display from the diminutive counterpuncher:

While other players try to take hold of the opportunities created by a series of high-profile withdrawals, Djokovic has become the prohibitive favorite. It's a situation where the chips are falling his way to complete the career Grand Slam.

The only pressure he faced Saturday was trying to finish his match with Aljaz Bedene before darkness set after rain delayed play for a while. He responded by striking 39 winners and five aces while earning seven breaks to earn the routine victory and a day off.

Carole Bouchard of the Yellow Ball Corner spotlighted the crowd reaction to his effort:

Andy Murray helps headline the first day of fourth-round play Sunday. The three-time tournament semifinalist has already been pushed to five sets twice in the event and could be in for another extended battle with big-hitting American John Isner.

Reigning champion Stan Wawrinka will also be in action. He's rebounded from a first-round scare courtesy of Lukas Rosol to win each of his next two matches in straight sets. He figures to get a tougher test from Viktor Troicki, who made quick work of Gilles Simon last time out.

Women's Draw Recap

Round	Winning Player	Losing Player	Score
Third	(1) Serena Williams	(26) Kristina Mladenovic	6-4, 7-6
Third	(8) Timea Bacsinszky	Pauline Parmentier	6-4, 6-2
Third	(9) Venus Williams	Alize Cornet	7-6, 1-6, 6-0
Third	(13) Carla Suarez Navarro	(22) Dominika Cibulkova	6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Third	(18) Elina Svitolina	(14) Ana Ivanovic	6-4, 6-4
Third	(15) Madison Keys	Monica Puig	7-6, 6-3
Third	Kiki Bertens	(29) Daria Kasatkina	6-2, 3-6, 10-8
Third	Yulia Putintseva	Karin Knapp	6-1, 6-1

As expected, Serena Williams received a much stiffer test from Kristina Mladenovic on Saturday than she did during her lopsided victories in the first rounds. The top-ranked player in the world still managed to advance in straight sets, though.

It was a match of missed opportunities for the three-time French Open champion. She converted just one of 12 break-point opportunities, which allowed her French counterpart to keep it close and nearly force a deciding third set. That would have been a dangerous situation with the home crowd on her side.

So the sense of exaltation and relief Roland Garros highlighted from Williams after she finally closed it out deep in the second-set tiebreak came as no surprise:

Her sister Venus couldn't avoid a third set against Alize Cornet, another Frenchwoman, but her response after dropping the second set was nothing short of outstanding. She bageled Cornet in the third on the power of 10 winners and just three unforced errors.

It's the first time the elder Williams sister has advanced to the fourth round of the French Open since 2010. She's also reached that stage in four of the past six Grand Slam events after going through a four-year stretch of tallying just a single Round 4 appearance.

All those numbers point to revitalized level of play from the longtime star. Chris Goldsmith of the Tennis Talker noted the climb back up the rankings reflects her success:

The outlook isn't nearly as encouraging for Ana Ivanovic. The 2008 French Open champion's inconsistency reared its ugly head once again Saturday, as she finished with 29 unforced errors compared to just 13 for Elina Svitolina, who took advantage to advance in straight sets.

Ivanovic has the necessary physical tools to contend for more major titles. The battle she fights is more on the mental side of the game, and that's why she's failed to live up to the hype since that triumph in Paris eight years ago. She has just one Grand Slam semifinal appearance since that point.

After Saturday's loss, the Serbian star expressed her frustration with herself, as relayed by Pritha Sarkar of Reuters.

"It's really disappointing to finish in this manner," Ivanovic said. "My forehand wasn't really working today. I was making a lot of errors. My forehand let me down today."

Looking ahead, the wide-open bottom half of the draw takes center stage Sunday. No. 2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who's shown signs of rounding into form at the perfect time, will look to continue building off her early success against Tsvetana Pironkova.

The other main contenders from that part of the bracket will face their toughest tests of the tournament so far as well. Fourth seed Garbine Muguruza is set to take on 2009 French Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova, while sixth seed Simona Halep faces off with a resurgent Samantha Stosur.

All match statistics courtesy of the tournament's official site.