PARIS — All but gone are the days of ingénues dominating in Paris. The grandes dames look poised to remain the ruling class at Roland Garros.
The three oldest players left in the women’s draw all impressed in third-round matches Friday. Venus Williams, who turns 37 this month, easily dispatched Elise Mertens, 6-3, 6-1. Samantha Stosur, 33, beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-2, 6-2. Svetlana Kuznetsova, who turns 32 this month, battled for more than three hours to take a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5 win over Zhang Shuai.
From 1987 to 1992, six consecutive French Open women’s titles were won by teenagers: Steffi Graf twice, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario once and Monica Seles three times.