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Ball boy scuppers Troicki's Viktor-y, Fed escapes Gael

ESPN staff
May 31, 2011

French Open Day Ten Gallery

A real balls-up
Viktor Troicki knew he had a tough assignment on his hands when resuming at 2-2 against Andy Murray on Tuesday, but he wouldn't have expected his biggest obstacle to be a ball-boy. With Murray serving at 2-3 in the final set, Troicki pummelled his opponent way behind the baseline, before lining up a smash winner. However, the near-side ball-boy thought the point was over so ran onto court, instantly rendering the point void. Murray was completely out of it, Troicki made no mistake with the smash, but the umpire had to stick to the letter of the law. Unsurprisingly the Serb was left on his knees in frustration.

"Kid just jumped in and messed up my point," Troicki said afterwards. "Not a good moment."

You don't say.

Amateur hour
Francesca Schiavone lived to fight another day after battling back from the brink of defeat to shock Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a hugely compelling quarter-final clash. A set down and trailing 4-1, Schiavone's hopes of defending her title looked all but over before she raised her level to out-gun her opponent. Leading 5-1 in the deciding set, Schiavone capitulated once again, squandering a chance to serve for the match at 5-2 as Pavlyuchenkova found a second wind. In a compelling finale, that saw neither player looking as though they wanted to win, Schiavone was pronounced the victor. The stats paint a sorry story, however - 13 breaks of serve and 79 unforced errors during the spectacle. Just the seven breaks of serve in the deciding set. Enthralling to watch and high on drama but where was the quality?

Fed's get out of Gael free card
Gael Monfils may have had the French crowd firmly behind him in his contest with Roger Federer, but the Swiss maestro has always had his number - winning all their previous meetings. That didn't change on Tuesday, but perhaps that was partially of the Frenchman's own making - as he double-faulted at key points in the opening two sets and dug himself a whole simply too deep to escape from.

Federer was far from his best, but was not punished as his opponent took a good 90 minutes to turn up in a clash that lasted just over two-and-a-half hours.

400 to one
Monfils may have fallen, but the French crowd still had a home favourite to cheer to victory ... step forward Marion Bartoli. The 26-year-old clinched her 400th professional victory after a triumph over Svetlana Kuznetsova that was settled on the finest of margins - but it was perhaps her most cherished to date, as she became the first Frenchwoman since Mary Pierce to reach the semis at Garros and moved one step closer to what would be a fairytale victory.

Don't stop believing
Stat attack to finish the day: According to the International Tennis Federation, it is the first time since 1984 that the top five men's seeds have all reached the quarter-finals, and the first time since Wimbledon 1989 that it has happened at any Grand Slam. So now you know.

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