Paris, June 3: World No.1 Andy Murray of Britain and Croatian seventh seed Marin Cilic defeated Argentine Juan Martin del Potro and Feliciano Lopez respectively to advance to the men's singles fourth round of the French Open tennis championships after here on Saturday (June 3).

Meanwhile, in the women's singles, Romania's third-seeded Simona Halep advanced to the fourth round, where she will compete with Spanish Carla Suarez for a place in the quarter-finals, reports Efe.

Murray needed two hours and 53 minutes to win 7-6 (8), 7-5, 6-0 over the Argentine del Potro.

"Whoever won that first set had big momentum," said the British tennis player after the match.

Croatian Cilic defeated the 35-year-old Spaniard Lopez 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 after one hour and 47 minutes.

Also, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco qualified for the fourth round after beating Pablo Cuevas, world no. 23. Verdasco, world no. 37, needed one hour and 33 minutes to defeat his Uruguayan rival 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.

The 25-year-old Romanian player Halep defeated Russian 26th seed Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 7-5 in the third round in an hour and 18 minutes.

Spanish No. 21 seeded Carla Suarez defeated Ukrainian 14th seed Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 43 minutes.

French Alize Cornet registered a 6-2, 6-2 victory over world No. 8 Polish Agnieszka Radwanska in an hour and 19 minutes, marching into the fourth round.

IANS