体坛英语资讯：Zverev finishes another five-set thriller, Wang suffers bitter exit

PARIS, June 1 -- German promise Alexander Zverev repeated his five-set winning manner in third round against Damir Dzumhur, while China's Wang Qiang squandered two match points to lose to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan at the 2018 French Open here on Friday.

Following Wang's exit, no Chinese player remained in women's singles at Roland Garros this year.

After edging past Dusan Lajovic in full sets, Zverev was once again 2-1 down after the third set, before regrouping himself to finish the next two sets at 7-6 (3), 7-5 in a tough battle lasting three hours and 54 minutes.

"It was a very tight match. It was normal there were a lot of nerves involved," said Zverev. "Even if you're not playing your best, it's all about finding a way to win and finding the right solution at the right moment."

Fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov didn't follow Zverev's footsteps forward, as the Bulgarian lost to Spanish clay specialist Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.

"It's a shame," admitted Dimitrov.

"Physically I felt good, but obviously I lost my nerves early on in the first set and after I lost that set. It was kind of tough to recover from that," he added.

The 2016 winner Novak Djokovic fought his way ahead by seeing off 13th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2, setting up a clash with Verdasco in round of 16.

Other contenders marching into the fourth round are Dominic Thiem, Nishikori Kei and Marco Cecchinato.

Wang, already setting her personal best at Grand Slam tournaments in Paris, heated up quicker into the match and took away the first set 6-1.

She built a four-game margin in the second set, before 98th-ranked Putintseva tied the score at 4-all. Wang wasted a pair of match points in the tenth game and Putintseva forced a tiebreak at 7-5.

Wang led 3-0 in the decider, while Putintseva made a strong comeback with five consecutive games through powerful forehands and astute dropshots. Putintseva managed to convert her third match point in the tenth game to set the decider 6-4.

Prior to Wang's exit, Duan Yingying, Zheng Saisai and Wang Yafan were eliminated in the first round, while Zhang Shuai and Peng Shuai crashed out from Thursday's second round.

Women's singles No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki beat Frenchman Pauline Parmentier, the only wild card player remaining in the draw, 6-0, 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes. However, fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina was stunned by Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu at 6-3, 7-5,

Madison Keys, Daria Kasatkina and Barbora Strycova joined Wozniacki in women's last 16.

Wang regrouped herself to step on doubles court with Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu, and the pair downed Petra Martic and Maria Sakkari 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the first round.

China's Duan Yingying and Yang Zhaoxuan both moved past doubles second round with respective partners.

Zhang Shuai secured a berth in mixed doubles second round, also for her compatriot Xu Yifan.

World number one Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep will headline Saturday's singles third round. Xu Yifan and Wang Qiang are set to play their second round matches in women's doubles.