Defending champs Djokovic & Muguruza through to last 16

Defending champion Novak Djokovic survived his first stern test at the French Open on Friday, as he came from two sets to one down to overcome world number 41 Diego Schwartzman 5-7 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-1 and move into the last 16.

The second seed, now joint third on the all-time list for most wins at Roland Garros with 58, broke the Argentine to go 3-1 up in the first set.

But instead of cruising through he was broken twice with Schwartzman, in top form on clay this season and snatching the set as dark clouds gathered above the Court Philippe Chatrier.

The Serb recovered to secure the second set but with 42 unforced errors in the first three sets alone, including a backhand that flew long to hand Schwartzman the third, he struggled for consistency.

Under threat of becoming the first defending champion to lose prior to the round of 16 since Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2004, Djokovic kept his cool, despite a time violation and a warning, to take the match to a decider.

Two more breaks put him in control and a third gave him a spot in the last 16, where he will face either France's Lucas Pouille or Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Muguruza

Roland Garros breathed a sigh of Gallic relief on Friday when defending champion Garbine Muguruza navigated her way through a draw bereft of star appeal to reach the French Open fourth round.

The win sets her up with a draw against French favourite Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic.

With pregnant Serena Williams absent, Maria Sharapova denied an invitation and top seed Angelique Kerber a first-round casualty, familiar faces are relatively thin on the ground in Paris, and Muguruza's 7-5 6-2 win over Kazakh Yulia Putintseva was greeted warmly by fans on the Philippe Chatrier court.

Fourth seed Muguruza kept up her side of the bargain with a dogged performance on the main showcourt.

Putintseva, a pocket rocket early in the first set, fizzled out as the contest wore on and Muguruza turned up the power.

The Venezuelan-born Spaniard raised the decibel level as she nosed in front, teaming each pummeled groundstroke with a loud cry, signalling her determination.

With rain and storms forecast for later on Friday, Muguruza will be pleased to have booked her passage with the minimum of fuss.

Kiki

Kiki took her love story with Roland Garros to a new level, feeding off the home crowd to battle her way into the fourth round of the French Open with a 7-5 4-6 8-6 victory against American Shelby Rogers.

"I have no words to describe the love I have for you," said Mladenovic, who rallied from 5-2 down in the third set to set up a date with defending champion Garbine Muguruza on Monday.

"Honestly I went through so many emotions during this match that I don't know what to say. Your support helps me so much. I had goose bumps."

"Kiki! Kiki!," the crowd chanted again in an electric atmosphere, declaring their love back to Mladenovic.

Tagged one of the pre-tournament favourites after reaching the final in the Madrid and Stuttgart claycourt tournaments, the 13th-seeded Mladenovic is looking to become the first French woman since Mary Pierce in 2000 to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.

Nadal

Clearly Nikoloz Basilashvili had come to face Rafa Nadal with a plan but, like Mike Tyson said, everybody has a plan until they're punched in the face.

And that's what happened -- in tennis terms -- to the Georgian when he took on the irrepressible Spaniard in the French Open third round on Friday.

The brutality of Nadal's destruction of the Georgian on the Roland Garros main showcourt was withering.

The statistics within the 6-0 6-1 6-0 pummelling make for grisly reading. Grisly for Basilashvili, grisly for Nadal's next opponent Roberto Bautista Agut, grisly for everyone in the draw.

Grisly for everyone except the fourth-seeded Spaniard.

It took Basilashvili until the 12th game of the match to register on the scoreboard.

He won one in four of his first serve points in the opening set.

The number of winners he struck in the match could be counted on one hand, and his 34 unforced errors almost matched the entire number of points he won all match -- 36.

Yet Basilashvili is no rookie: Nadal did this to him. Consider that the 25-year-old Georgian had already this year beaten then world number eight Dominic Thiem.

Nadal is a unique creature on clay, though. His statistics are mind-boggling.

Friday's victory was his 100th best-of-five-set match on the slow surface, and he now has a staggering win-loss ratio of 98-2.

You would find few takers to bet against him winning a 10th French Open come next Sunday.

Raonic

Fifth seed Milos Raonic reached the last 16 for the second year in a row after Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired at the start of the second set with a thigh muscle injury.

Raonic, the world number six, cruised through the first set 6-1 in 21 minutes and led 1-0 in the second when the Spaniard retired at the changeover after a brief exchange with his opponent.

"He told me he had dealt with this in his first rounds. He was happy to have gone through the first two matches and he could not bear it any more," Raonic told reporters.

The 26-year-old Canadian, who will next face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, had been struggling with an injury himself earlier this season and said he was happy not to have played longer even though it was unfortunate how it had come about.

"I take it when I can have it. I have played a lot in the last weeks. I made good progress and am getting better and better," he said.

Earlier in the year, Raonic pulled out of the Delray Beach final due to a hamstring injury and he also withdrew from Acapulco and Indian Wells.

FRIDAY RESULTS

Men's Singles

Albert Ramos (Spain) beat Lucas Pouille (France) 6-2 3-6 5-7 6-2 6-1
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) 5-7 6-3 3-6 6-1 6-1
Dominic Thiem (Austria) beat Steve Johnson (US) 6-1 7-6(4) 6-3
Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Nikoloz Basilashvili (Georgia) 6-0 6-1 6-0
Pablo Carreno (Spain) beat Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 7-5 6-3 6-4
Roberto Bautista (Spain) beat Jiri Vesely (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-4 6-3
Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) beat David Goffin (Belgium) 4-5 (Goffin retired)
Milos Raonic (Canada) beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 6-1 1-0 (Garcia-Lopez retired)

Women's Singles

Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) beat Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) 6-2 6-2
Venus Williams (US) beat Elise Mertens (Belgium) 6-3 6-1
Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Zhang Shuai (China) 7-6(5) 4-6 7-5
Kristina Mladenovic (France) beat Shelby Rogers (US) 7-5 4-6 8-6
Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) 6-2 6-2
Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 7-5 6-2
Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-1 6-4