Richard Gasquet has booked his place in the fourth round of the French Open courtesy of a straight-sets victory over Nick Kyrgios this afternoon.
Neither player had dropped a set at Roland Garros this year heading into the match, but it was the home favourite who came out on top with a 6-2 7-6[7] 6-2 victory over the Australian youngster.
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Gasquet made a perfect start to the contest by breaking early to race into a 3-0 lead, and he soon moved one game away from taking the opener as another break saw him go 5-1 ahead.
Kyrgios's plight was not helped by an injury to his left shoulder which required a medical time-out, but he still managed to hold on by pulling one of his breaks back.
It merely delayed the inevitable, though, and Gasquet soon took the first 6-2 on his fourth set point to move into control of the contest.
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Kyrgios appeared to have shaken off his injury troubles in the second set as it went with serve all the way to a tiebreak in which both players created set points, but it was Gasquet who took the second of his to open up a two-set lead.
He quickly gained control of the third too, breaking the 17th seed in the third game and then again in the seventh before serving out the match with a 6-2 win in the final set.
The ninth seed, who has never made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, will face either Fernando Verdasco or Kei Nishikori in the next round.
Barney Corkhill
