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| Roger Federer returns to Nicolas Mahut during their match at the French Open yesterday |
Federer, the champion in Paris in 2009, overcame battling French world number 89 Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, being pushed to four sets for the second match in succession.
Goffin is the first lucky loser from qualifying to make the last 16 of a major since compatriot Dick Norman at Wimbledon in 1995 and the first at Roland Garros since 1978.
The 21-year-old achieved the feat by beating Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 6-1, having originally lost in the final qualifying round last week.
He was then handed a lifeline when French star Gael Monfils pulled out on the eve of the event.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga did his part to keep alive home hopes of a first men’s champion since 1983 when he swept past colourful Italian Fabio Fognini to reach the last 16.
Fifth seed Tsonga won 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 against the 45th-ranked Fognini and will face Stanislas Wawrinka, the 18th-seeded Swiss, who defeated French 11th seed Gilles Simon 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2.
It was Tsonga’s second win in two meetings with Fognini, who reached the quarter-finals last year only for a thigh injury to force him to withdraw and hand Novak Djokovic a walkover into the semi-finals.
“I have had some difficult moments here, now I am happy to be having some good ones,” said Tsonga, who has now matched his best performances of fourth round runs in 2010 and 2011.
Andreas Seppi kept Italian interest alive by reaching the last 16 of a Grand Slam at the 29th time of asking.
Meanwhile, a flat-footed Ana Ivanovic and a completely out-of-sorts Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska bade an early farewell to a cool and blustery Roland Garros. For a woman who showed no weaknesses while dispatching Venus Williams in the previous round, Radwanska unusually suffers stage fright when she comes face-to-face with 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
So it proved again yesterday as the world number three froze on the biggest stage in claycourt tennis, winning a measly three games during a 6-1 6-2 third-round humbling by the Russian 26th seed on Philippe Chatrier Court.
Kuznetsova skipped off court - perhaps to experiment with another eye-catching hairdo after showing off cropped, tight braids - after notching up a sixth successive win over Radwanska and securing a last-16 date with Sara Errani. The defeat also dashed Radwanska’s hopes of finishing the tournament as world number one as she had been in a three-way race for the top spot with Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. After assured performances in her last two outings, Ivanovic had high hopes of progressing beyond the fourth round of a major for the first time since her triumph here in 2008.
It was not meant to be for the bubbly 24-year-old Serbian.
“I was making some unforced errors when I was too flat-footed,” said the 13th seed. “Some double faults really came out of nowhere. Maybe I wasn’t using my legs enough.
“It’s really disappointing because I felt like I had a game and I was playing really well. My serve really let me down.”
It is a sentiment probably shared by Japan’s Ayumi Morita, who simply could not fire up her serving arm and fell by the wayside 6-1 6-1 in a second-round thrashing by title favourite Sharapova.
RESULTS
Men 2nd rd: Marcel Granollers (ESP x20) bt Malek Jaziri (TUN) 7-6 (7/1), 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
3rd rd: Andreas Seppi (ITA x22) bt Fernando Verdasco (ESP x14) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x18) bt Gilles Simon (FRA x11) 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-2 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x5) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA) 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 Roger Federer (SUI x3) bt Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 David Goffin (BEL) bt Lukasz Kubot (POL) 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 6-1 Juan Martín Del Potro (ARG x9) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x21) 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1 Tomas Berdych (CZE x7) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA x31) 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4
Women 2nd rd: Maria Sharapova (RUS x2) bt Ayumi Morita (JPN) 6-1, 6-1
3rd rd: Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x15) bt Maria Jose Martinez (ESP) 6-2, 6-1 Sloane Stephens (USA) bt Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 6-3, 6-2 Samantha Stosur (AUS x6) bt Nadia Petrova (RUS x27) 6-3, 6-3 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x26) bt Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x3) 6-1, 6-2 Sara Errani (ITA x21) bt Ana Ivanovic (SRB x13) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 Petra Martic (CRO) bt Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP x29) 6-2, 6-1.