French Open: Rafael Nadal withdraws Andy Murray through

Omnisports

May 27, 2016 1:42 AM

While Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka booked fourth round berths, a wrist problem brought Rafael Nadal's French Open campaign to an end.

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Rafael Nadal was forced to withdraw from the French Open due to a wrist injury, while Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka eased into round four.

The Spaniard called a surprise media conference on Friday, one which he described as "the hardest of his career", to announce he would be unable to continue competing at Roland Garros this year.

Murray and Wawrinka, meanwhile, stride on in the tournament having overcome Ivo Karlovic and Jeremy Chardy respectively.

Milos Raonic maintained his flawless tournament by accounting for Andrej Martin 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-3, while Nick Kyrgios was beaten in straight sets by home hope Richard Gasquet.

NADAL PULLS OUT

There will be no 10th French Open title for Nadal in 2016. The Spaniard confirmed he had required an injection in order to play through his second-round match against Facundo Bagnis, but said doing so again would not be an option.

"We spent a lot of hours here to try to play and yesterday I played with an injection in the wrist and anaesthetic," said Nadal, who had been due to face Marcel Granollers on Saturday.

"I came here, had an MRI and the results are not positive. It's not 100 per cent - it's not broken but if I keep playing it's going to be broken in the next couple of days."

The world number five will hope for a swift recovery with Wimbledon and the Olympic Games on the horizon.

MURRAY AND WAWRINKA ADVANCE

Having been taken to five sets by Radek Stepanek and Mathias Bourgue in the opening two rounds, there was a pleasing change in tune for second seed Murray.

The Brit only dropped one game in the opening set before completing a 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7-3) victory over Karlovic in less than two hours, setting up a fourth-round clash with John Isner.

Despite being broken in the opening game, Wawrinka marched to a straight-sets triumph over Chardy. The Frenchman was unable to match the defending champion's power as he was beaten 6-4 6-3 7-5.

NISHIKORI TAKEN THE DISTANCE

When Kei Nishikori took a two-set lead against Fernando Verdasco it looked like it would be a third successive straight-sets win for the Japanese, but his rival fought back to force a decider.

Nishikori came out on top 6-3 6-4 3-6 2-6 6-4 to take his record in decisive sets to 92-26 - the best differential of players with over 16 matches in the Open era.

"It was a tough, tough five sets," said Nishikori. "He started playing much better in the third and fourth, and even the first couple of games in the final set, too. So it wasn't easy, but I'm very happy to win."

TROICKI BREAKS SIMON HOODOO

In his six previous meetings with Gilles Simon, Viktor Troicki had failed to win a single set.

He put that right on Friday, though. The Serbian stormed to a comfortable 6-4 6-2 6-2 win over the 16th seed, and Wawrinka awaits him in the fourth round.

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