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Summary Roger Federer beat Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the 3rd round match of the French Open.
Even though he was again far from his best, Roger Federer still managed to win at the French Open.Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka, the top-ranked man and woman, had much easier paths to victory.Federer, the 2009 champion at Roland Garros, was pushed to four sets Friday for the second straight match, this time beating Nicolas Mahut of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the third round.I think for bigger guys its about, if youre able to move them around enough and they have to defend time and time again, this is maybe where you can expose some of their weaknesses potentially, Federer said. I thought he did well. (I) struggled a little bit, but overall obviously Im happy I came through.With the win, Federer improved his record number of Grand Slam match wins to 235. The 16-time Grand Slam champion is trying to become the first man over 30 years old to win a major title since Andre Agassi in 2003 at the Australian Open.For Mahut, it was the first time he has ever won a set against Federer in four matches.Djokovic also advanced to the fourth round, extending his Grand Slam win streak to 24 matches by beating Nicolas Devilder of France 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in a match that ended just as the sun was setting.Azarenka reached the fourth round in the womans draw, while Maria Sharapova advanced to the third round. But the big surprises came early in the day when third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska and 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic were eliminated.Two days after beating seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, Radwanska was routed by 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-2.In the second round, Sharapova advanced with another straight-forward, straight-set victory.Three days after scoring a double bagel in the first round, the second-seeded Sharapova defeated Ayumi Morita of Japan 6-1, 6-1.Sharapova has won three major titles in her career, but she still needs to win at Roland Garros to complete a career Grand Slam.Also in the third round, the 13th-seeded Ivanovic lost to Sara Errani of Italy 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.The former top-ranked player committed 37 of her 40 unforced errors in the final two sets. Errani had only 18.No. 6 Sam Stosur, the 2010 runner-up, advanced as well.American teen Sloane Stephens also advanced to the fourth round, beating Mathilde Johansson of France 6-3, 6-2. Of the eight teenagers in this years draw, the 19-year-old Stephens was the only one to even reach the third round.
