Tsonga was forced to retire despite leading 5-2 in the opening set.

Story highlights

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retires from French Open

Home favorite suffers injury in third round match

Serena Williams overcomes Kristina Mladenovic

World No.1 triumphed 6-4 7-6 in contest delayed by rain

CNN  — 

On Friday it was Rafael Nadal, on Saturday it was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Just a day after the nine-time winner was forced to quit the French Open with a wrist injury, home favorite Tsonga limped out of his third round tie after sustaining an injury.

Tsonga, who was leading Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis 5-2 in the opening set, appeared to strain his groin and was forced to retire.

It was a huge setback for the two-time semifinalist who was seeded sixth at this year’s tournament.

Gulbis will face either Nicolas Almagro of Spain or Belgium’s David Goffin in the next round.

In the women’s draw, Serena Williams remains on track to equal Steffi Graf’s record off 22 grand slams after reaching the fourth round of the French Open.

The World No.1 defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 7-6 in a match which was affected by a lengthy rain delay in Paris.

Williams, who faces Ukraine’s 18th seed Elina Svitolina in the next round, was forced to wait two-and-a-half hours as the rain came down at Roland Garros.

But Williams, the defending champion, returned to finish the home favorite by winning the tiebreak 12-10.

Williams was forced to wait it out as the rain came down in Paris.

While the victory may have been assured in the end, this was not the one-sided affair many had expected.

Mladenovic fought bravely to save nine break points in the second set and then four match points in the tie-break before finally yielding to her opponent.

Williams will now play Svitolina, conqueror of 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic, who reached the quarterfinal stage last year.

Coached by Justine Henin, a four-time winner at Roland Garros, Svitolina ended a seven-match losing streak against the Serbian star to win 6-4 6-4.

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Serena Williams' French Open defense plan
02:33 - Source: CNN

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