French Open 2019: Keys Advances, Pliskova Upset in Friday's Early Action

Second seed Karolina Pliskova became the highest-profile casualty of the 2019 French Open so far on Friday after losing 6-3, 6-3 to Petra Martic in the third round.

No. 12 seed Anastasija Sevastova saved five match points on her way to beating Elise Mertens 6-7 (3), 6-4, 11-9 in an epic encounter on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Meanwhile, The United States' Madison Keys completed victory over Australia's Priscilla Hon in a match carried over from Thursday, the No. 14 seed eventually prevailing 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

Selected Men's Results

Martin Klizan bt. (22) Lucas Pouille: 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 9-7

Benoit Paire bt. Pablo Carreno Busta: 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (1), 0-0 ret. 

Selected Women's Results

(31) Petra Martic bt. (2) Karolina Pliskova: 6-3, 6-3

(12) Anastasija Sevastova bt. (20) Elise Mertens: 6-7 (3), 6-4, 11-9

(14) Madison Keys bt. Priscilla Hon: 7-5, 5-7, 6-3

For a look at all Thursday's results, visit RolandGarros.com.

Friday Recap

Pliskova prepared for this year's Grand Slam at Roland-Garros by winning the Italian Open in Rome.

As a result, she rose to No. 2 in the world rankings and looked well set to at least match her 2017 march to the semi-finals at the French Open.

Instead, the Czech suffered a second consecutive third-round exit in Paris after coming up against the in-form Martic.

The Croatian has looked impressive throughout the clay-court season—she won the Istanbul Cup in April—and produced a fine performance against Pliskova to reach the fourth round for a third time at Roland-Garros.

She broke at 3-3 for the crucial advantage in the opening set and then forced consistent errors from Pliskova to wrap up the match in one hour, 25 minutes:

Sevastova and Mertens were on court for almost two hours longer in their 198-minute epic.

The opening set was as tight as they come, the pair trading three holds apiece and then breaking each other once to force a tiebreak.

Mertens prevailed for a one-set lead, but Sevastova then upped her aggression in the second set, earning a double break that should have proved fatal.

Instead, the Belgian clawed both back to level at 4-4, but Sevastova hauled back the momentum to set up a deciding set.

Adam Pretty/Getty Images

Both players were firing on all cylinders, and some masterful shot-making made for great entertainment on the Paris clay.

Mertens looked to have the edge at 5-4 ahead and 6-5 ahead, but she could not deal the knockout blow to Sevastova.

At the crucial moments, the Latvian came up with the goods:

The pressure finally told on Mertens as she became victim to Sevastova's consistent drop shots and went behind for the first time in the set at 10-9.

The No. 12 seed served out the match to love to complete arguably the match of the tournament so far.