Spain’s Rafael Nadal with France’s Richard Gasquet after winning his third round match in French Open on Saturday, 2 June, 2018. Photo: REUTERS

PARIS: When claycourt machine Rafa Nadal faces his old friend Richard Gasquet the 10-time Roland Garros champion gets a free ride and that was again the case as he bulldozed past the local favourite 6-3 6-2 6-2 to reach the French Open last 16 on Saturday.

Top seed Nadal won the first 12 points of the match and opened up a 5-0 led before Gasquet finally got into the contest, but it was once more too little, too late for a player who had been labelled the ‘Mozart of tennis’ in his teenage years.

Gasquet actually won their last encounter – but it was at the Kooyong Classic exhibition event this year.

When it matters Nadal must know he won’t get into trouble, having not dropped a set against a player who was his rival in the juniors since 2008.

There was a sense of inevitability about the outcome when both players made their appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier, where Nadal is the huge favourite to lift the Musketeers Cup for a record-extending 11th time.

“I played very well, I’m sorry for Richard, he is a good friend and a good person,” said Nadal, who played a few rallies with a ball boy after his match.

He has now won 30 sets in a row on the Parisian red dust and his last-16 opponent, 70th ranked 22-year-old German Maximilian Marterer, does not exactly seem equipped to cope with the Mallorcan’s range of weapons.

Gasquet was totally overwhelmed on Saturday, finding himself trailing 5-0 after 12 minutes, and the Parisian crowd felt it could be an express washout.

In a bid to give the home fans something to shout about, Gasquet spurred himself into action and with a few beautiful shots reduced the gap to 5-3.

But Nadal was in no mood for a marathon and he bagged the first set on serve before putting Gasquet to the sword again at the beginning of the second and third sets, making sure there was no hope of a comeback amongst the Frenchman’s supporters

General view of the Emerald Headingley Stadium, Leeds, Britain during a rain delay, on Saturday, 2 June, 2018. Photo: REUTERS

LEEDS: Rain prevented any play on the second morning of the second test between England and Pakistan at Headingley.

England are currently 106 for two, trailing by 68 runs after bowling Pakistan out for 174 on the first day. Captain Joe Root is on 29 and Dominic Bess on 0.

The forecast is for intermittent rain throughout the day. Pakistan lead the two-test series 1-0.

Russia’s Maria Sharapova during her third round match against Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova Photo: REUTERS

PARIS: Maria Sharapova was back on Roland Garros’ main stage for the first time in three years and put on a dazzling display as she demolished Czech sixth seed Karolina Pliskova 6-2 6-1 to reach the French Open fourth round.

Absent from the tournament for the last two years after failing a drugs test in 2016, organizers opted not to roll out the red carpet for her comeback as they scheduled her away from the main Philippe Chatrier court for her opening two matches.

But once she returned to the stage where she hoisted the Suzanne Lenglen trophy in 2012 and 2014, the Russian showed she was could still be a destructive force as she left 2017 semi-finalist Pliskova running for the exit after 59 minutes.

Next up will be a meeting with either her long-time nemesis Serena Williams, who has beaten Sharapova in 18 successive encounters dating back to 2005, or Germany’s Julia Goerges.