The Latest: Djokovic reaches 4th round at French Open


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PARIS (AP) — The Latest on the French Open (all times local):

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9:45 p.m.

Novak Djokovic made sure he won't have to play for a second consecutive day at the French Open by finishing his third-round match before darkness on Saturday.

After rain halted play for more than 2½ hours, Djokovic was unable to start his match against Aljaz Bedene until late in the afternoon. The top-ranked Serb needed a little bit more than two hours to beat British player Aljaz Bedene 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in fading light.

"It was obviously very important to finish that match tonight," said Djokovic, who saved five of the seven break points he faced and broke Bedene seven times.

Djokovic, who lost in the final at Roland Garros in three of the past four years, is chasing a career Grand Slam in Paris. He will be up against 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth round.

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9:20 p.m.

No. 15 seed Madison Keys has reached the fourth round at the French Open for the first time.

The 21-year-old American produced 30 winners en route to a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win over 53th-ranked Monica Puig of Portugal on Saturday.

Keys has been in great form in the buildup to the French Open, reaching the final in Rome where she lost to Serena Williams. She will next play 58th-ranked Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands.

Out of the 16 players left in the women's draw, four are Americans: Keys, the Williams sisters and Shelby Rodgers.

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7:25 p.m.

Venus Williams now needs one more victory to reach the French Open quarterfinals for the first time in 10 years.

Playing a terrific final set, the ninth-seeded Williams beat France's Alize Cornet 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-0 in a rain-interrupted match Saturday to reach the fourth round. Williams lost at that stage in Paris in 2010, missed the tournament the next year, then lost in the first or second round in every appearance from 2012-15.

She lost to her sister Serena in the 2002 French Open final and since then has made it as far as the quarterfinals only twice, most recently in 2006.

Next for Williams, who turns 36 next month, is a matchup with No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky.

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7:10 p.m.

Sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France has retired from his third-round match at Roland Garros with a leg injury while leading Ernests Gulbis 5-2 in the first set.

The Frenchman, twice a semifinalist at Roland Garros and the runner-up at the 2008 Australian Open, left the court with a trainer. When he returned, he said he no longer could play.

Tsonga draped a white towel over his head and used it to wipe tears from his eyes.

The 80th-ranked Gulbis reached the semifinals at the French Open in 2014.

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6:10 p.m.

Former French Open runner-up David Ferrer will play in the fourth round at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament for a sixth consecutive year.

The 11th-seeded Ferrer came out on top from an all-Spanish match with Feliciano Lopez on Saturday, winning 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-1. He'll next face either seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych or Pablo Cuevas.

Ferrer lost to Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros final in 2013.

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6 p.m.

Serena Williams needed five match points after waiting out a rain delay of more than 2½ hours, but she eventually moved into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (10) victory over 26th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France.

In a tight, well-played match at Court Philippe Chatrier, action was suspended Saturday when a thunderstorm arrived right before Williams and Mladenovic began the second-set tiebreaker.

Once they resumed, Williams erased one set point for Mladenovic at 9-8 with a swinging forehand volley winner. Four times, Williams was a point from victory in the tiebreaker — at 6-5, 7-6, 8-7 and 10-9 — and couldn't close it out. But on the fifth opportunity for Williams, Mladenovic pushed a forehand wide to end the match.

Williams had plenty of chances to take control earlier, but she converted only 1 of 12 break points, including going 0 for 9 in the second set. She saved all four break points she faced in the match.

Williams, the No. 1 seed, is trying to become the first woman to win consecutive titles at Roland Garros since her former rival Justine Henin took three in a row from 2005-07. Henin happens to be helping coach Williams' next opponent, No. 18 Elena Svitolina.

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5:30 p.m.

Heavy showers have stopped and play has resumed under overcast skies at the French Open after a delay of more than 2 1/2 hours.

Defending champion Serena Williams is back on Court Philippe Chatrier, resuming her match against Kristina Mladenovic, with a 6-4, 6-6 lead.

Matches on other courts are also resuming. Williams' older sister Venus is ahead 2-1, on serve, in her third-round match against France's Alize Cornet while No. 11 David Ferrer is up two sets and a break against No. 21 Feliciano Lopez.

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3:50 p.m.

The French tennis federation (FFT) says it has ended its dispute with former Davis Cup captain Arnaud Clement.

Clement was fired last September with one year remaining on his contract and was replaced by Yannick Noah as the team captain. He filed a lawsuit for damages.

But the FFT said a deal has been found and both parties now "start a new page in their relationship."

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3 p.m.

With Serena Williams about to start a second-set tiebreaker against Kristina Mladenovic, heavy rain has halted play in the French Open's third round.

Williams, the defending champion, took the first set 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier against her 26th-seeded French opponent. Mladenovic had just held serve to get to 6-all in the second set when they were sent to the locker room because of a thunderstorm.

Williams' older sister Venus is ahead 2-1, on serve, in her third-round match against France's Alize Cornet on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

In the only other singles match in progress, No. 11 David Ferrer is up two sets and a break against No. 21 Feliciano Lopez in an all-Spanish match on Court 1.

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2:10 p.m.

Dominic Thiem has prevailed in the duel of rising tennis stars, downing teenager Alexander Zverev 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

The 13th-seeded Thiem equaled his best result at a major tournament after reaching the round of 16 at the U.S. Open in 2014.

It was the third time that Thiem and Zverev faced each other in four weeks, with Thiem extending his winning record to 3-0.

Thiem's next opponent will be Marcel Granollers, who advanced without playing thanks to Rafael Nadal's withdrawal.

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12:35 p.m.

Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 champion at Roland Garros, is out of the French Open.

The 14th-seeded Serb lost 6-4, 6-4 to No. 18 Elina Svitolina in the third round Saturday after struggling with her serve throughout. Ivanovic managed to hold just three times when serving and got broken seven times by her Ukrainian rival.

Svitolina, who made it to the quarterfinals in Paris last year, had only managed to win a single set against Ivanovic in their seven previous meetings.

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11:40 a.m.

Two of the most promising players in tennis have kicked off the action at the French Open on Saturday.

Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev have both reached the final of the juniors' tournament. At 22, Thiem is bidding to reach the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time while the 19-year-old Zverev could become the youngest male player to reach that stage of the clay-court tournament since Novak Djokovic ten years ago.

Weather permitting — there is a risk of showers in the afternoon in Paris — Djokovic will also play Saturday as he continues his bid to complete a career Grand Slam. The top-ranked Djokovic is scheduled to take on Briton Aljaz Bedene on Court Philippe Chatrier.

In the women's draw, last year's semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky opened play on Court Philippe Chatrier against Pauline Parmentier. Defending champion Serena Williams will play later against local favorite Kristina Mladenovic.

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