Kiwi Erin Routliffe is into the third round of the French Open in women's doubles, and quarterfinals in mixed doubles with compatriot Michael Venus.
On Monday at Roland Garros in Paris, Routliffe and Canadian Leylah Fernandez almost double-bagel'd their Japanese opponents, before Routliffe and Venus also had a comfortable win, with both matches finishing under an hour.
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Routliffe and Fernandez advanced to the third round in emphatic fashion on Monday, defeating Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya of Japan 6-0 6-1.
The match lasted just 48 minutes on a sun-drenched Court Four and although Routliffe had strapping on her left thigh again, it did not appear to be bothering her.
It was the most one-sided victory Routliffe has been involved in since she and Maddison Inglis defeated Emma and Juliette Mazzoni 6-0 6-0 at an ITF tournament in Montpellier, France in 2021.
Routliffe and Fernandez barely put a foot wrong in this match. The Canadian brought the aggression and the Kiwi the consistency and their Japanese opponents did not have any answers, particularly when Fernandez and Routliffe were together at the net.
The first set was over in just 20 minutes, with Routliffe and Fernandez winning all 10 points when they got their first serve in.
But the prospect of a double-bagel ended when Hozumi held serve in the opening game of the second set, while Fernandez had to save a break point on her serve in the next game.
However, Ninomiya had her serve broken in the third game, which brought an end to the brief period in this match when Hozumi and Ninomiya were able to live with Routliffe and Fernandez.
The match ended with Ninomiya serving at 1-5 and on the third match point Hozumi went too long with a lob over Routliffe’s head.
In the third round, the No 9 seeds will play Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine and Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
Teaming up with Venus, the Kiwis defeated French pair of Clara Burel and Hugo Gaston 6-4 6-2 in 58 minutes on Court 14 in the afternoon (Tuesday NZ Time).
The combinations went game-for-game until 10th game of the first set, when Routliffe and Venus won the game to love, having staved off a break point chance in the previous game. Earlier, they missed two chances to break serve in the fourth game.
Routliffe and Venus broke their opponents in the second game of the second set but immediately dropped their next service game. However, it did not matter as they reeled off the last four games of the match, breaking serve for the fourth time to reach the last eight.
The sixth seeds will have to wait to learn their quarterfinal opponents, with second-seeded German Laura Siegemund and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin favoured in their second round match on Tuesday (Wednesday NZT).