#RG17 day five wrap: Murray, Pliskova wobble

It’s very rare for big names not to stumble from time to time during a Slam. The question is: how do they deal with that stumble? On day five of Roland Garros Andy Murray and Karolina Pliskova both managed to stop themselves from falling, but they did leave lingering questions about their form.

Murray wobbles but doesn’t fall down

There was a wobble, but crucially Andy Murray didn’t fall over. For the second match in succession the world No.1 dropped a set before (more or less) romping home to victory against Martin Klizan. Murray, who at one point complained about not being able to control his racquet, lost the opener in a tight tiebreak before waltzing home to a 6-7(3) 6-2 6-2 7-6(3) win.

“My plan was to go into the match and try and play a solid match,” Murray revealed afterwards. “Maybe the first set I didn’t, but I felt for the most part, second, third, fourth I played some good stuff.”

There were no such troubles for Stan Wawrinka, who came through a potentially tricky encounter with Alexandr Dolgopolov. Dolgopolov, a former world No.13, has been struggling for form of late. However, he took the fight to Wawrinka during the Swiss’ 6-4 7-6(5) 7-5 win in two hours 34 minutes.

Meanwhile, 18th seed Nick Kyrgios crashed out to resurgent South African Kevin Anderson. Kyrgios came through the first set 7-5, before imploding late in the second to crash out of the tournament 6-4 6-1 6-2.

Elsewhere, Gael Monfils notched up a routine win over Thiago Monteiro 6-1 6-4 6-1; Marin Cilic, who is ghosting through the draw, was a 6-3 6-2 6-2 winner over Konstantin Kravchuk; and Kei Nishikori eased to a 6-3 6-0 7-6(5) win over Jeremy Chardy.

Draw opens up for Pliskova

Can Karolina Pliskova win the French Open? A couple of weeks ago it would have seemed improbable, but with the draw opening up before her she seems to have a clear path – on paper, at least – to the semifinals. Like Murray, Pliskova wobbled during her match against Ekaterina Alexandrova, but she eventually steadied the ship to win 6-2 4-6 6-3.

“Even I don’t think I am playing the best tennis that I played this year,” Pliskova said. “But somehow I still won two matches which is very important. I know I can play better if I go deep in the tournament.”

Pliskova’s quarter opened up following Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s shock defeat to Veronica Cepede Royg. Pavlyuchenkova, the only notable clay court player in that bottom quarter, went out 7-6(4) 2-6 6-4.

If Pliskova’s quarter looks open, Halep’s is anything but. The Romanian eased to the win over Tatiana Maria 6-4 6-3, but is seemingly on a collision course with Rome champion Elina Svitolina. The Ukranian fifth seed mustered a solid fightback to down Grand Slam specialist Tsvetana Pironkova 3-6 6-3 6-2.

Elsewhere, Agnieszka Radwanska fought back to beat Alison Van Uytvanck 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3; Madison Keys crashed out to Petra Martic, beaten 3-6 6-3 6-1; and Anastasija Sevastova was a 6-3 6-0 winner over Genie Bouchard.