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Jabeur first Arab woman in Slam third round

Paris - Tunisia's Ons Jabeur became the first Arab woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam on Wednesday when she defeated sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-3 at the French Open.

Jabeur, ranked 114 and who only earned her place in the Roland Garros main draw as a 'lucky loser' after being beaten in qualifying, bettered the previous best by an Arab woman at the majors.

That mark was set by compatriot Selima Sfar who made the second round at Roland Garros twice, three times at Wimbledon and once at the US Open.

The 22-year-old Jabeur, who was the French Open girls' champion in 2011, goes on to face Swiss 30th seed Timea Bacsinszky for a place in the last 16.

"I am very, very happy to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time," said Jabeur who proudly waved a Tunisian flag on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

"The fans here and all the Tunisians really helped me."

Jabeur hailed the help she has received from Sfar, a trailblazer for Arab women's tennis.

"She is such a great inspiration, she always comes to help me and support me," said Jabeur, who fired 30 winners to 2009 semi-finalist Cibulkova's 13, taking the match when her opponent double-faulted.

Jabeur only squeezed into the main draw when Germany's Laura Siegemund was forced to withdraw through injury.

Veronika Martinek was the last 'lucky loser' to reach the third round in Paris in 1995.

Nicole Jagerman of the Netherlands was the only 'lucky loser' to make the fourth round in Paris in 1988.

French Open results on Wednesday, the fourth day of the 2017 tournament at Roland Garros (x denotes seeding):

Men

2nd rd

Milos Raonic (CAN x5) bt Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) bt Marco Trungelliti (ARG) 7-5, 6-4, 7-5

Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP x20) bt Taro Daniel (JPN) 7-5, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x11) bt Tommy Robredo (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

Jiri Vesely (CZE) bt Aljaz Bedene (GBR) 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x17) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3)

Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (8/6)

Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-1, 6-4, 6-3

Dominic Thiem (AUT x6) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA) 7-5, 6-1, 6-3

Steve Johnson (USA x25) bt Borna Coric (CRO) 6-2, 7-6 (10/8), 3-6, 7-6 (8/6)

Horacio Zeballos (ARG) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO x23) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5), 6-3

David Goffin (BEL x10) bt Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) 6-2, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

Lucas Pouille (FRA x16) bt Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1, 6-2

Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP x19) bt Benjamin Bonzi (FRA) 6-2, 6-1, 6-1

Diego Schwartzman (ARG) bt Stefano Napolitano (ITA) 6-3, 7-5, 6-2

Novak Djokovic (SRB x2) bt Joao Sousa (POR) 6-1, 6-4, 6-3

1st rd

Renzo Olivo (ARG) bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4

Women

2nd rd

Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) bt Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 6-2, 6-2

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) bt Monica Puig (PUR) 6-3, 6-2

Samantha Stosur (AUS x23) bt Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 6-2, 7-6 (8/6)

Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt Petra Kvitova (CZE x15) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5)

Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x11) bt Francoise Abanda (CAN) 6-0, 6-0

Catherine Bellis (USA) bt Kiki Bertens (NED x18) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)

Zhang Shuai (CHN x32) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x8) bt Oceane Dodin (FRA) 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-3

Garbine Muguruza (ESP) bt Anett Kontaveit (EST) 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2

Yulia Putintseva (KAZ x27) bt Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3

Shelby Rogers (USA) bt Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) 7-6 (8/6), 6-4

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA x13) bt Sara Errani (ITA) 6-2, 6-3

Venus Williams (USA x10) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 6-3, 6-1

Elise Mertens (BEL) bt Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 6-3, 6-4

Timea Bacsinszky (SUI x30) bt Madison Brengle (USA) 6-0, 6-2

Ons Jabeur (TUN) bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x6) 6-4, 6-3

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