Bomb scare halts French Open

A bomb scare today disrupted play on the fifth day of the French Open at Roland Garros.

Court one was evacuated when a jacket and briefcase were left unattended during the match between Spain’s Carlos Moya and Argentina’s Guillermo Canas.

Moya was leading 1-0 in the third set when play was halted and security officials took no chances, ordering all the spectators, officials and players to leave.

Earlier in the day, top seed Lleyton Hewitt had to battle for more than three hours before booking his place in the fourth round.

Hewitt let slip a 3-0 lead in the third set before eventually overcoming Holland’s Sjeng Schalken 6-1 7-5 6-7 6-1 in 3hrs 9minutes.

The Australian world number one appeared to be cruising as he took the first two sets and broke Schalken’s serve in the second game of the third.

But the 21-year-old then lost his serve twice in succession and four games in a row to fall 4-3 behind, and although he then broke back as the Dutchman served for the set, Schalken survived a crashing fall in the tie-break to take the set and reduce his deficit.

Hewitt was furious with himself for being dragged into a fourth set and set about completing the task with relish, breaking serve in the opening game and twice more to claim a place in the last 16.

There he may face 17th seed Moya, who has won their last two meetings easily, winning in straight sets in the first round in Monte Carlo and the second round in Rome.

Defending champion Gustavo Kuerten is also through to the fourth round after a four-set victory over Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez, a former junior French Open champion.

Kuerten won 6-3 2-6 7-6 6-4, although he was grateful for the help of two crucial double faults from Gonzalez in the tie-break, the first letting the Brazilian level at 5-5 and the second gifting him the set 8-6.