French Open: Nadal, Halep eye pre-quarterfinal berths

World number one Rafael Nadal will aim to book his place in the fourth round of the French Open when he locks horns with 29th seed Richard Gasquet in the last-32 of the men's singles event here on Saturday.

The Spanish tennis maestro had earlier continued his rich vein of form as he registered a comfortable 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 win over Argentina's Guido Pella in a one-sided second-round clash.

Nadal, who is bidding to clinch his 11th French Open trophy, will match Margaret Court's all-time record for most singles titles at the same Grand Slam event if he lifts the title again.

In women's singles clash, top-seed Simona Halep will also be looking for a pre-quarterfinal spot when she faces Andrea Petkovic of Germany in the third round at Roland Garros.

Halep stormed into the last-32 of the tournament after easing past America's Taylor Townsend in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.

Halep, who is currently ranked No. 1 in WTA ranking, is chasing her maiden Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros.

The Romanian star is a two-time runner-up at Roland Garros - slumping to a defeat to Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova in the 2014 final before losing to Jelena Ostapenko last year.

Meanwhile, former world number one Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will also play their last-32 clash of the women's singles event later today.

While Serena will take on 11th seed Julia Gorges of Germany, Sharapova will face Karolína Plíškova of Czech Republic for a place in the pre-quarterfinals.