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World number one Andy Murray and former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro will meet in a tantalising third-round showdown tonight after both posted contrasting victories at Roland Garros.
Murray advanced to the third round for a ninth consecutive time after coming from a set down to defeat Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, while del Potro went through after his opponent Nicolas Almagro retired due to a knee injury with the score at one-set all and one-all in the third set.
It will be the pair’s first meeting since last year’s Davis Cup semi-finals, in which the Argentine came from two sets to one down to defeat the Scot in what would prove to be the 30-year-old’s last defeat for 2016.
That result helped Argentina advance to the final, where they eventually won their first title by defeating Croatia by three rubbers to two.
But no one will ever forget the previous meeting between the two, which was the titanic gold medal match at last year’s Rio Olympics, which Murray won in four sets to become the first person to win two Olympic gold medals in singles tennis, let alone defend it.
For del Potro it was a major step forward in his comeback from a persistent wrist injury that had ruined his previous 30 months. His run to the silver medal had started with an upset win over the then world number one, Novak Djokovic, in the first round.
Nearly ten months on and the pair will clash at grand slam level for the first time since the 2008 US Open, where Murray won a tight four-setter en route to reaching his first major final, which he lost to Roger Federer.
Whoever tonight’s match will fancy themselves reaching the quarter-finals, with 15th seed Tomas Berdych suffering a shock straight-sets defeat at the hands of Russian Karen Khachanov on court six.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori remains on track to reach the quarter-finals again following his straight-sets win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while the same can be said for 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, who will face Fabio Fognini in his third round match tonight (AEST).
Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils will also clash tonight in an all-French showdown, possibly for the right to face Wawrinka, after both posted victories over Victor Estrella Burgos and Thiago Monteiro respectively.
There are no more Australians left in the men’s draw following Nick Kyrgios’ four-set defeat to South African Kevin Anderson, while 2013 finalist David Ferrer bowed out after a five-set loss to compatriot Feliciano Lopez.
These results have increased Marin Cilic’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time. The 2014 US Open champion, for his part, defeated Konstantin Kravchuk in straight sets.
In the women’s draw second seed Karolina Pliskova and 2014 finalist Simona Halep will play tonight after both kept alive their chances of claiming the world number one ranking from Angelique Kerber with contrasting victories over Ekaterina Alexandrova (three sets) and Tatjana Maria (straight sets) respectively.
The pair are seeded to meet each other in the semi-finals, so if they do meet then the chance to overtake Kerber will be decided there, though Halep would have to eventually win the title to ascend to the top spot.
Ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska also progressed to play Alizé Cornet tonight, while recent Rome champion Elina Svitolina continued her recent impressive run of form to confirm a match-up with Magda Linette.
Both Radwanska and Svitolina had to come from a set down to win their respective matches against Alison van Uytvanck and Tsvetana Pironkova, both former quarter-finalists at Roland Garros.
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard has bowed out, as have American 12th seed Madison Keys and Russian 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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