Share

Murray fitness under scrutiny

Paris - Fourth seed Andy Murray hopes to have recovered from an ankle injury in time to face Serbia's Viktor Troicki in the French Open fourth round on Monday when Rafa Nadal and Maria Sharapova are also in action.

The Briton, scheduled to play during the late afternoon on Court Suzanne Lenglen, twisted his ankle when trying to slide on the clay to reach a ball in the second set against third-round opponent Michael Berrer.

Despite heavy strapping, he continued to wince throughout the rest of the match but the quality of his play arguably got better.

Like Troicki, Ivan Ljubicic is a tall and awkward customer and champion Nadal will have to continue his gradual improvement during the second grand slam of the year to stave off the Croat and join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.

The pair won through easily on Sunday by beating Stanislas Wawrinka and Richard Gasquet in straight sets on a sunny day.

Twice runner-up Robin Soderling must battle Gilles Simon, a fired-up French crowd and forecast heat and possible thunder storms if the Swede wants to make the last-eight party while the David Ferrer-Gael Monfils match from Sunday must finish.

With Vera Zvonareva's exit on Sunday meaning the top three seeds are out of the women's draw, Sharapova has a real chance of challenging for her fourth grand slam title but first since 2008 if she can beat 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.

Australian Open runner-up Li Na of China has a difficult task in her assault on a quarter-final spot against ninth seed Petra Kvitova.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
loading... Live
TS Galaxy FC 0
Moroka Swallows 0
loading... Live
Cape Town Spurs FC 0
Richards Bay FC 0
Voting Booth
Should the Proteas pick Faf du Plessis for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Faf still has a lot to give ...
67% - 929 votes
No! It's time to move on ...
33% - 452 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE