Nadal shows no mercy

Tennis:Five-time champion Rafa Nadal was his old merciless self as he silenced Croatian qualifier Antonio Veic 6-1 6-3 6-0 to book his place in the fourth round of the French Open, while Andy Murray overcame an injury scare to also advance.

The Spanish number one allowed only seven points to his opponent in the opening set despite struggling on his first serve.

Nadal, who now has a 41-1 record at Roland Garros although he laboured through his first two matches this year, ran into a spot of bother in the second set, conceding a couple of breaks.

However, a series of bludgeoning forehands floored world number 227 Veic, who beat twice French Open finalist Nikolay Davydenko in the previous round, in a 25-minute second set.

Nadal will now meet either Croatian Ivan Ljubicic or Spanish 16th seed Fernando Verdasco for a place in the last eight.

NOVAK  DJOKOVICmoved into the last 16 as Juan Martin Del Potro's challenge melted away.

Djokovic had looked in a spot of bother yesterday evening when his Argentine foe took the second set to square their third-round match.

However, when play resumed in brighter, hotter conditions, Djokovic was clearly the better player as he posted his 42nd consecutive match win thanks to a 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 victory.

Despite playing some spectacular tennis in patches, Del Potro faltered at the key moments.

Upon the resumption, the former US Open champion blew two break points in the fifth game of the third set and was made to pay.

Djokovic grabbed the first chance that came his way - in the very next game - with the Argentine netting tamely.

The second seed went on to take the set before a familiar pattern unfolded in the fourth.

Del Potro double-faulted to hand Djokovic a 2-1 lead and in his next service game he sent a backhand wide when break point down.

To his credit the 25th seed, on his way back up the rankings following a 2010 season ruined by injury, quickly recovered one of the breaks, setting up the chance by superbly chasing down a drop shot to hit a cross-court winner.

However, in the next game he received a warning for a time violation which didn't help his cause and he duly surrendered his serve for the third successive time.

Djokovic finished the contest in the next game, producing an excellent drop shot on match point to clinch his place in the fourth round.

Now just four wins short of Guillermo Vilas' record of 46 consecutive victories, Djokovic will face home hope Richard Gasquet on Monday for a place in the quarter-finals.

MURRAYbooked his place in the fourth round with a courageous 6-2 6-3 6-2 victory over Michael Berrer, but it came at a considerable cost.

All seemed well as the world number four dominated the opening set, with the only frustration that he was not winning the match even more easily against an opponent ranked 95th in the world and playing in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

However, in the fourth game of the second set Murray went over on his ankle and it immediately became clear he was in serious trouble.

He opted to battle on, though, and, thanks to a combination of some superb attacking tennis and an opponent who did not know how to take advantage of the situation, advanced to a last-16 clash with Viktor Troicki.

The first set was straightforward for Murray, who broke in Berrer's first service game and then again in the eighth game, with the German showing himself to be gutsy but limited.

He battled well to save six break points in a mammoth second game of the second set lasting 17 minutes but all too soon the German was serving again and Murray quickly raced to three more break points.

Once more Berrer dug deep, although the Scot's tally of only two break points taken from 14 chances was not a statistic he would be proud of.

However, all that paled into insignificance on the next point when, chasing another drop shot, he rolled his right ankle.

Murray immediately shouted in pain and hopped to the side of the court before lying down on the clay. He managed to walk gingerly back to his seat for treatment but the expression on his face indicated he thought his campaign was over.

Swelling was visible but the trainer strapped up the joint thoroughly and the 24-year-old returned to the court break point up.

The Scot knew to expect plenty of drop shots - as he had dished out to an injured Gilles Simon in Monte Carlo - but he retrieved the first one to move into a 3-1 lead. He was clearly severely hampered, though, and did not win a point on his serve in the next game.

Murray screamed in frustration, his only hope now to go for his shots and try to shorten the points as much as possible. Fortunately for him it was a tactic his opponent did not seem able to cope with and the fourth seed broke again.

He was still limping badly and grimacing constantly but his superior talent enabled him to serve out the set.

Murray's weight of shot was the reason he remained even in contention for a place in the fourth round, and he was certainly being helped by Berrer, who seemed to have been affected just as much as his opponent by the situation.

The German inexplicably served a double-fault to hand Murray a break in the opening game of the third set, and amazingly the 24-year-old then made it three games in a row.

Ironically, he was playing the sort of attacking tennis his critics have long been demanding, and Berrer must have been wondering just how the match was getting away from him so fast.

The German was complicit in his own downfall, though, giving a demonstration of how not to play against an injured opponent, and Murray served out a quite remarkable victory.