French Open Day 6 highlights: Nadal withdraws

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the French
Open with a left wrist injury. 2016 photo by Paul Bauman

   Five highlights from Day 6 of the French Open in Paris:
   1. Novak Djokovic's bid to become the eighth man to achieve a career Grand Slam in singles is looking better all the time. Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal withdrew because of a left wrist injury. He was scheduled to play fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers in the third round.
   "I have to retire from the tournament because of a problem in my wrist that I have had for a couple of weeks," the left-hander, who will turn 30 next Friday, said at a news conference. "Yesterday I played with an injection in my wrist. Last night I started to feel more and more pain. I did an MRI and an echography, and the results were not positive. It's not broken, but if I keep playing, something will break in the next couple of days. Every day the image as gotten a bit worse.
   "I came here to win the tournament, and that means playing five more matches. Accoring to the doctor, that would be impossible, as there is a 100 percent chance something will break. I know that I cannot finish the tournament. It's part of life, and I hope to be back at Roland Garros for many years to come."
   Nadal lost only nine games in his two matches (six sets). Tied for second place with 14 Grand Slam singles titles, he has not won one since the 2014 French Open.
   Roger Federer withdrew before the French Open, saying he was not 100 percent. The 2009 champion at Roland Garros underwent knee surgery on Feb. 3 and pulled out of Madrid this month because of a recurring back problem.
   2. No. 21 seed Samantha Stosur ousted No. 11 Lucie Safarova, last year's runner-up to Serena Williams and doubles champion with Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-3, 6-7 (0), 7-5 in the third round.
   Safarova, a 29-year-old left-hander, has been plagued by injury and illness since last summer. She has suffered an abdominal strain, a bacterial illness, a wrist injury and, after winning the Prague title in her native Czech Republic in late April, food poisoning.
   Stosur, a 32-year-old Australian, won the 2011 U.S. Open and reached the final of the 2010 French Open.
   3. Unseeded Shelby Rogers of Charleston, S.C., toppled No. 10 Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-0 to reach the fourth round of a Slam for the first time. The 23-year-old Rogers, ranked No. 108, will face No. 25 Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania.
   4. No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, the defending champion, defeated No. 30 Jeremy Chardy of France 6-4, 6-3, 7-5. Wawrinka will play No. 22 Viktor Troicki of Serbia in the round of 16. Troicki eliminated No. 16 Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
   5. No. 2 seeds Andy Murray and Agnieszka Radwanska advanced in consecutive matches on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Murray will face No. 15 John Isner, and Radwanska will meet unseeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.

Northern California results

Men's doubles

Second round

   Former Stanford stars Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (5), United States, def. Oliver Marach, Austria, and Fabrice Martin, France, 6-3, 7-6 (1). 

Women's doubles

Second round

   Aleksandra Krunic, Serbia, and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia, def. San Jose resident and former Cal star Raquel (Kops-Jones) Atawo and Abigail Spears (8), United States, 7-6 (6), 6-3.

Mixed doubles

First round

   CoCo Vandeweghe and former Stanford star Bob Bryan (8), United States, def. Virginie Razzano and Vincent Millot, France, 6-3, 7-5.

   Jelena Jankovic and Nenad Zimonjic, Serbia, def. San Jose resident and former Cal star Raquel (Kops-Jones) Atawo and Raven Klaasen, South Africa, 7-6 (5), 6-4.