May 31, 2016 7:20 PM

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French Open: Heavy rain gives suffering Novak Djokovic shelter

At the French Open Tennis today, World number one Novak Djokovic dropped the first set of his last-16 clash against Roberto Bautista Agut before heavy rain came to his rescue. The top seed, chasing an elusive first title in Paris and a career Grand Slam, came onto Court Philippe Chatrier with light rain still falling. Djokovic lost the first set with a scorelie of 3-6 against the 14th seeded Bautista. Only 37 minutes of play was possible but in that time, the Serb star was broken three times while carving out two breaks of his own. The 29-year-old will cross the 100 million US Dollar career prize money barrier if he makes a 10th Roland Garros quarter-final. The heavy conditions were also playing into the hands of the underdogs elsewhere today in last-16 ties. On Court Suzanne Lenglen, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria reeled off all six games played to overturn a 6-2, 3-0 deficit against second seed Agnieszka Radwanska in a match suspended on Sunday night. Pironkova took the second set 6-3 before play was halted10 minutes before action on Chatrier was stopped. On Court One, sixth-seeded Simona Halep was leading Samantha Stosur 5-3 on Sunday but the Australian roared back today to take the first set 7-6. Stosur was 3-2 up with a break when play was halted. Austrian hope Dominic Thiem was 5-2 ahead against Spain's Marcel Granollers on Court Two. Later Today, if conditions allow, defending women's champion Serena Williams will play Elina Svitolina of Ukraine. Andy Murray, the second seed, was due to play his quarter-final against Richard Gasquet on Chatrier although that was likely to be put back until Wednesday.

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