(Tennis news) After weathering a challenging French Open match, Novak Djokovic claims he did not have “time to name the many injuries” he had. Before defeating Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to advance to the round of 16, the Serb had treatment for his injured thigh.
Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed from Spain, advanced as well after defeating Denis Shapovalov, the 26th seed from Canada, 6-1 6-4 6-2. Alcaraz, 20, defeated Cameron Norrie of the United Kingdom to play Lorenzo Musetti. But in five-set matches, the seventh-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev and the 13th-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz were both eliminated.
Stefanos Tsitsipas also cruised in the next round after an easy win in the third round. He defeated Diego Schwartzman in straight three sets 6-2 6-2 6-3 and advanced to the next round.
The third seed, Djokovic, 36, against Davidovich Fokina, occasionally appeared uneasy. This was especially true in the third set after he had been treated during a medical timeout at the end of the second. But he came through to get one step closer to capturing a record 23rd men’s singles Grand Slam title.
The first two sets against Davidovich Fokina, a player he lost to on the Monte Carlo clay last year, went to tie-breaks and lasted more than three hours combined. Although Djokovic is still unbeaten at Roland Garros this year, he came a little bit closer than he would have wanted.
“Sometimes you need help from physio during the match,” said Djokovic.
“Sometimes you need pills. Sometimes you need help from the god or angels, or whoever. Sometimes you just have to deal with the reality.”
Asked if he was concerned about his physical state, he added: “We don’t have much time to start to name the many injuries I have, and the list is quite long.
“I don’t want to sit here and talk about these things that are not preventing me from playing. I still kept on playing. These are the circumstances that you, as a professional athlete, have to deal with. Accept it.
“The reality for me nowadays is my body is responding differently than it did few years ago.”
The 34th-ranked Davidovich Fokina has had his finest Grand Slam performance in Paris, where he reached the quarterfinals in 2021. Against Djokovic, he came out strong with huge hits and exquisite drop drops that caused all kinds of difficulties for the former world number one.
Djokovic saved set point in the second set before beating his rival in a second tie-break and then jubilantly celebrated. This came after he narrowly won the first set despite being twice a breakdown, committing four double faults, and being called for a time violation.
After getting medical attention, he continued to dominate the game to put an end to Davidovich Fokina’s chances of pulling off an upset. Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru will be Djokovic’s next opponent as he advances to the fourth round for the fourteenth year in a row.
Rafael Nadal, a 14-time winner of the Cup des Mousquetaires, will not be competing, therefore Djokovic and Alcaraz are the odds-on favourites. Little evidence has surfaced thus far to support a different viewpoint.
Alcaraz, who triumphed at the US Open to win his maiden major championship last year, displayed his prowess on clay once more by winning back-to-back championships in Barcelona and Madrid. Despite a slip-up in Rome last month when he fell to a Hungarian qualifier, the world’s top player has appeared confident at Roland Garros. He started strong against Shapovalov and, although trailing by a break early in the second set, came back to win 14 of the next 18 games and take the match in straight sets.
“I started to make more mistakes but you had to be strong mentally. I had to come back and I did,” Alcaraz said.
“My dream right now is to win every tournament I play in, fighting for Grand Slams, to compete with the guys like Djokovic.
“I want to try to see myself with the best ones and to achieve more titles.”
Rublev, the seventh-ranked player in the world, suffered a shocking loss after making it to the quarterfinals in his last three Grand Slam outings. In a five-set match against Lorenzo Sonego that was decided 5-7 0-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in favour of the unseeded Italian, who will now face 11th seed Karen Khachanov, the Russian gave up a two-set lead. Earlier on Friday, Russian Khachanov defeated Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in four sets to go to the third round. Hurkacz was eliminated from the competition after Rublev by losing to Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas, ranked 94 in the world, 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-2.
Also read: Novak Djokovic will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the 3rd round of the French Open
