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'Beautiful' French Open moment reduces viewers to tears

A heartwarming moment between retiring tennis star Nicolas Mahut and his son has left French Open viewers scrambling for tissues.

There was a barely a dry eye in the house during what turned out to be the Frenchman's farewell singles match against Leonardo Mayer in the third round.

Mahut had the home fans daring to dream after coming from two sets down to beat Marco Cecchinato in the first round, before following that up with a victory against veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber.

However, the 37-year-old's fairytale run ended against Argentina's Mayer, who won the match 3-6 7-6 6-4 7-6.

It was the scenes that followed and the reaction from Mayer that will be long remembered French Open fans though.

Nicolas Mahut's embrace with his son brought tears to his rival's eyes. Pic: Eurosport
Nicolas Mahut's embrace with his son brought tears to his rival's eyes. Pic: Eurosport

Mahut was given a standing ovation from the crowd in Paris, before his young son ran onto court to embrace his father in arguably the most touching moment at this year's tournament.

The emotional display was so powerful it even reduced Mayer to tears as fans paid tribute to the retiring Mahut on social media.

Mahut's wonderful moment somewhat overshadowed men's big guns Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who both won through to the next round at Roland Garros.

Nadal and Federer both blazed a trail into the French Open fourth round for the 14th time.

They had shared that record with Budge Patty but moved above the American with two more dominant displays, although 11-times champion Nadal did drop his first set of the tournament.

Nadal pulverised the unfortunate David Goffin into the Court Philippe Chatrier dust for two formidable sets but was made to sweat buckets in the soaring temperatures as 'Le Goff' dug in.

The Mallorcan second seed was never in serious trouble, however, and came through 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-3 to set up a clash with Argentina's 78th-ranked Juan Ignacio Londero.

Nadal dropped his first set of the tournament in the win over Goffin. Pic: Getty
Nadal dropped his first set of the tournament in the win over Goffin. Pic: Getty

"The level that I kept during the first 45 minutes, you can't really maintain that," Nadal said. "It was almost the top level, the highest level I could play."

Federer's opponent was 20-year-old Norwegian Casper Ruud who had matched his father Christian's feat of reaching the third round in 1999 -- the year 20-times Grand Slam champion Federer made his debut at the French Open and lost in the first round.

The 37-year-old Swiss duly dispatched the youngster although he was pushed to a tiebreak in the third set on his way to becoming the oldest player to reach the fourth round since Nicola Pietrangeli in 1972 with a 6-3 6-1 7-6(8) victory.

"Very pleased how I'm feeling and how I'm playing, and still trying to stay true to playing freely and with nothing to lose," Federer, trying to repeat his 2009 title run having missed the last three French Opens, told reporters.

Federer's next round opponent is the man who sent Mahit packing in such emotional fashion, 32-year-old Mayer.

With agencies