Kei Nishikori has sealed a place in the fourth round of the French Open, having beaten Benoit Paire in four sets.
The Japanese player wrapped up the first set in just 30 minutes, as Paire made 16 unforced errors trying to outwit his opponent.
The Frenchman continued to make mistakes in the second set, but some of his more ambitious shots started to pay off, and he took the 13th seed to a tie-break, which he was able to win to level the match.
Paire served well in the third set and managed to break his opponent, but the resilient Nishikori fought back, gaining two breaks of serve against the 24th seed to claim the set.
With momentum behind him, Nishikori made a bright start to the fourth set, breaking Paire early on, before the French player encountered problems with his serve, allowing his opponent to wrap up the fourth set in 25 minutes and win the match 6-3 6-7 6-4 6-1.
Nishikori will face the winner of this afternoon's match between Rafael Nadal and Fabio Fognini in the fourth round.
Sian Cowper
