Tennis: Leaves are brown and sky grey but Dominic Thiem finds a spring at French Open

Austria's Dominic Thiem plays a shot against Norway's Casper Ruud in the third round match of the French Open tennis tournament. Photo / AP

Waking up for his third-round match at the French Open, Dominic Thiem was surprised to see the morning skies were still dark.

Yup, Roland Garros in autumn, when the sun is slower to rouse itself than during the usual May-June slot, takes some getting used to. But, on court, the US Open champion is adjusting to the peculiarities of what is the last Grand Slam tournament in a pandemic-hit year.

The runner-up last year and in 2018, both times to Rafael Nadal, advanced to the fourth round for the fifth consecutive time, with another straight-set victory in this week's first encounter in Paris between seeded men. The victim of the third-seeded Austrian's fierce backhand and super-quick court coverage under the new roof on Court Philippe Chatrier was No 28 Casper Ruud, beaten 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

Long after early bird Thiem was done, Nadal also marched on in his pursuit of a 13th French Open title and record-tying 20th major. His opponent, Stefano Travaglia, was among five Italian men in third-round play, an Open era record at a Grand Slam. But he proved no match for Nadal's overpowering clay court game. Nadal was on court for just 95 minutes, winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-0.

Sebastian Korda, Nadal's next opponent, is the 20-year-old son of 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda. Korda and his third-round Spanish opponent Pedro Martinez reached the main draw via the qualifying tournament. Korda won 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to become the first qualifier to reach the men's fourth round since Alejandro Falla in 2011.

The 2015 champion, Stan Wawrinka, fell to French wildcard Hugo Gaston, who wrapped up the 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win with spectators' cries of "Hugo! Hugo!" ringing in his ears. Ranked 239th, Gaston next plays Thiem.

In the women's draw, top-seeded Simona Halep beat Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-1. The 19-year-old Anisimova had beaten the 2018 champion in straight sets in the quarter-finals last year.

Thiem, bidding to become the first Austrian with multiple Grand Slam titles, has said he loves the chilly autumnal conditions that other players have grumbled about at this pushed back French Open.

He was broken only once, when he sent a forehand wide to give Ruud a 3-1 lead in the first set. He immediately broke back and converted six of his 15 break points. He also saved seven of the eight break points faced.

Ruud was bidding to become only the second Norwegian to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

The first was his father and coach, Christian Ruud, in 1997 at the Australian Open. He watched on Chatrier. It was again largely empty for that match, victim of the daily limit of 1000 spectators imposed on the tournament because of Covid-19.

The arena built for 15,000 rang out later in the day to shouts of "bravo" and "merci" and saw fans in face masks jumping up and down in waves as Caroline Garcia, of France, beat 16th-seeded Elise Mertens 1-6, 6-4, 7-5. The 45th-ranked Garcia advanced to next face third-seeded Elina Svitolina, who beat the last of 12 Russians in the women's draw, Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-4, 7-5.

- AP