(Reuters) - Highlights of the fifth day at the French Open, the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, on Thursday (all times GMT):
DAY FIVE WRAPUP: Osaka lives to fight another day, Djokovic cruising
1900 HALEP BATTLES PAST LINETTE
Defending champion Simona Halep overcame a mid-match hiccup to beat Poland's Magda Linette 6-4 5-7 6-3 to reach the third round.
Meanwhile on Court 12, Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko broke Aleksandra Krunic to draw level at 5-7 7-5 6-6 before play was suspended due to bad light.
1747 DEL POTRO QUELLS NISHIOKA CHALLENGE
Juan Martin del Potro was dragged into a dogfight by Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka but the Argentine, seeded eighth, relied on his experience to prevail 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-7(5) 6-2 in three hours and 46 minutes.
1605 BLINKOVA STOPS GARCIA
France's Caroline Garcia, a quarter-finalist in Paris two years ago, fell to Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova who rallied from a set down to prevail 1-6 6-4 6-4.
Meanwhile, in the men's draw, Gael Monfils powered past fellow Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-4 6-4. World number 146 Antoine Hoang upset Fernando Verdasco 6-4 3-6 7-6(5) 7-5.
1359 RUTHLESS DJOKOVIC DOWNS LAAKSONEN
Novak Djokovic continued his bid to become the first man in the professional era to twice hold all four majors by swatting aside Henri Laaksonen 6-1 6-4 6-3.
1350 ANISIMOVA STUNS SABALENKA
Amanda Anisimova, 17, toppled 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-2 to become the youngest American to reach the Roland-Garros third round since Serena Williams 20 years ago.
Anisimova beat the Belarusian en route to the fourth round of the Australian Open in January.
1340 ZVEREV BACK IN THE GROOVE
Alexander Zverev thwarted a late comeback attempt by Swede Mikael Ymer to seal a 6-1 6-3 7-6(3) victory that was punctuated by 12 aces and 36 winners.
1332 WILLIAMS MAKES QUICK WORK OF NARA
Serena Williams, who is bidding for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, took only 67 minutes to beat Japan's Kurumi Nara 6-3 6-2 and set up a third round meeting with fellow American Sofia Kenin.
1317 BARTY STROLLS PAST COLLINS
Ashleigh Barty, the eighth seed from Australia, downed American Danielle Collins 7-5 6-1.
1202 OSAKA SURVIVES ANOTHER SCARE TO ADVANCE
Naomi Osaka overcame a sluggish start to rally past double Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka 4-6 7-5 6-3 in their second round clash.
1143 THIEM BATTLES HIS WAY INTO THIRD ROUND
Dominic Thiem, the runner-up last year, defeated Alexander Bublik 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 7-5 to become only the third Austrian man to win 50 Grand Slam singles matches in the professional era after Thomas Muster (77) and Jurgen Melzer (59).
1110 INJURY ENDS EDMUND'S CAMPAIGN
Pablo Cuevas reached the third round after Britain's Kyle Edmund retired hurt while trailing in the third set. Cuevas was leading 7-6(3) 6-3 2-1 when Edmund quit.
0910 PLAY BEGINS AT ROLAND GARROS
Play began under cloudy skies in Paris with the temperature at 17 degrees Celsius. Rain is expected towards the end of day's play.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar, Rohith Nair and Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Pritha Sarkar, David Holmes, Christian Radnedge and Toby Davis)
