French Open 2018

Why should del Potro worry about a wild-card opponent whose peak ranking was No. 37 and who in recent years has evolved into a doubles expert at the expense of his already shaky singles? Two reasons: First, del Potro pulled out of his quarterfinals match against David Goffin almost two weeks ago with a thigh injury that has lingered. As of the weekend, he was still uncertain of playing the tournament. Second, Frenchman Mahut will have the home-court advantage on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Mahut is part of a small group of French players who rise to the occasion at Roland Garros. He and Michael Llodra were runners-up in the French Open doubles in 2013. In singles, Mahut has also reach the third round twice, logging wins against del Potro-like power-hitters Andy Roddick and Ernests Gulbis. Mahut is now concentrating on doubles mostly because he's 36 years old, but he has a real passion for the game. Mix that passion with his serve-and-volley game and a partisan crowd and it could spell trouble for del Potro.

Del Potro might have miscalculated by taking a long rest after his spectacular performance in Indian Wells and Miami. He's got just two wins in four matches on clay going into this tournament, but he's an old hand at this. He lost excruciating, five-set matches to Roger Federer in the semifinals (2009) and quarterfinals (2012).

Prediction: Del Potro should be able to riddle Mahut with passing shots, but the big question is del Potro's health.Williams will face Ashleigh Barty in the next round after the Australian wasted little team seeing off Natalia Vikhlyantseva in straight sets. Meanwhile, Muguruza was also in impressive form as she outplayed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second set after scraping to a win in the first.

Sharapova came close to the edge against a spirited Hogenkamp. Despite taking the first set emphatically, Sharapova slipped up in the second and carried her frustration into the third.

She battled back brilliantly, though, to save the match:
(3) Marin Cilic def. James Duckworth: 6-3, 7-5, 7-6(4)
(1) Rafael Nadal def. Simone Bolelli: 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(9)
(24) Denis Shapovalov def. John Millman: 7-5, 6-4, 6-2
Juan Martin del Potro def. Nicolas Mahut: 1-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
Steve Johnson def. (25) Adrian Mannarino: 7-6(1), 6-2, 6-2
(9) John Isner def. Noah Rubin: 6-3, 7-6(7), 7-6(7)
Jurgen Zopp def. (14) Jack Sock: 6-7(4), 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
(6) Kevin Anderson def. Pablo Lorenzi: 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
(18) Fabio Fognini def. Pablo Andujar: 6-4, 6-2, 6-1
(16) Kyle Edmund def. Alex de Minaur: 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
Elias Ymer def. Dudi Sela: 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-1
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. (28) Feliciano Lopez: 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Guido Pella def. Joao Sousa: 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
Pablo Cuevas def. Aljaz Bedene: 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Ruben Bemelmans def. Yuki Bhambri: 6-4, 6-4, 6-1
Maximilian Marterer def. Ryan Harrison: 6-1, 6-3, 7-5
Horacio Zeballos def. Yuichi Sugita: 6-7, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-2
Jan-Lennard Struff def. Evgeny Donskoy: 6-1, 6-3, 6-0
Marton Fucsovics def. Vasek Pospisil: 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(5)
Mischa Zverev def. Florian Mayer: 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(3)
Hubert Hurkacz def. Tennys Sandgren: 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Thomas Fabbiano def. Matthew Ebden: 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Women's Bracket

Serena Williams def. Kristyna Pliskova: 7-6(4), 6-4
(28) Maria Sharapova vs. Richel Hogenkamp: 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
(7) Caroline Garcia def. Yingying Duan: 6-1, 6-0
(3) Garbine Muguruza def. Svetlana Kuznetsova: 7-6(0), 6-2
(11) Julia Goerges def. Dominika Cibulkova: 6-4, 5-7, 6-0
Samantha Stosur def. Yanina Wickmayer: 6-2, 6-4
(17) Ashleigh Barty def. Natalia Vikhlyantseva: 6-3, 6-1
Taylor Townsend def. Myrtille Georges: 6-4, 6-2
Irina-Camelia Begu def. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 6-4, 5-7, 9-7
Ana Bogdan vs. Marketa Vondrousova: 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
Alison Van Uytvanck def. Isabelle Wallace: 6-1, 6-0
Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Denisa Allertova: 6-4, 6-3
(24) Daria Gavrilova def. Sorana Cirstea: 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3
(16) Elise Mertens def. Varvara Lepchenko 6-7(9), 7-6(4), 6-0
Shuai Zhang def. Kristina Kucova: 6-0, 7-5
(18) Kiki Bertens def. Aryna Sabalenka: 6-2, 6-1
Angelique Kerber def. Mona Barthel: 6-2, 6-3
Shuai Peng vs. Aleksandra Krunic: 6-3, 6-4
(30) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Polona Hercog: 6-4, 7-6(1)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs. Johanna Larsson: 6-4, 6-3
Fiona Ferro vs. Carina Witthoeft: 6-4, 6-2
Williams hasn't appeared on the red clay in Paris since she was beaten in the final two years ago by Garbine Muguruza. Understandably, the 36-year-old showed signs of sluggishness on her return to the Grand Slam stage.

Eventually, Williams overcame any hint of rust by outlasting Pliskova in a tiebreak to win the first set. Things ran a little smoother for Williams in the second, as she eventually served out for a 6-4 win.

While Williams made it through, WTA Insider showed how much the three-time champion struggled with the Pliskova serve: