Gonzalez, Cibulkova reach quarterfinals at French Open with straight-set wins

Gonzalez, Cibulkova reach quarterfinals at French

PARIS — Fernando Gonzalez became the first player to reach the quarterfinals at this year’s French Open, beating Victor Hanescu of Romania 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 Sunday.

Gonzalez, who reached the 2007 Australian Open final, ended the match with his 21st forehand winner. He finished with 50 winners and only 16 unforced errors.

The 12th-seeded Chilean also reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year, but lost to eventual finalist Roger Federer. Hanescu reached the French Open quarterfinals in 2005 but also lost to Federer.

Gonzalez reached the semifinals at the two other clay-court tournaments he entered this year, but missed a pair of others with an ankle injury.

No. 20 Dominika Cibulkova reached the quarterfinals in the women’s draw. The 20-year-old Slovak beat No. 29 Agnes Szavay of Hungary 6-2, 6-4 in a sloppy match that had a combined 17 winners and 66 unforced errors.

Cibulkova won five straight games in the second set to lead 5-2, but she was broken while serving for the match and had to wait a few more minutes to serve again and advance to her first major quarterfinal.

Szavay upset third-seeded Venus Williams in the previous round.

Later Sunday, defending champions Rafael Nadal and Ana Ivanovic were scheduled to play, while No. 3 Andy Murray and top-seeded Dinara Safina were already on court.