Sluggish Thiem into French Open fourth round

PARIS (Reuters) - Last year's runner-up Dominic Thiem of Austria overcame a second-set blip as he huffed and puffed into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5 win against Uruguay's Pueblo Cuevas on Saturday.

The fourth seed lost control at times on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but his bludgeoning forehand made the difference as he set up a meeting with local favourite Gael Monfils.

Monfils had no trouble seeing off fellow Frenchman Antoine Hoang, whose wild-card run came to an end in a 6-3 6-2 6-3 defeat on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Thiem's opponent, world number 47 and claycourt expert Cuevas, was a tougher nut to crack but it was a matter of when, not if, for the Austrian.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Tony Lawrence)