Djokovic Powers Into French Open Fourth Round
Novak Djokovic looked sharp once again on Friday, booking his spot in the French Open fourth round with a 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over No. 13 seed Roberto Bautista-Agut.
“It was a great fight, almost four hours. Bautista Agut, he’s not going to hand you the win. You have to deserve it,” said Djokovic. “Not having so many matches in the last period, this is great. I mean, of course I don’t want to play four, five hours every match. But I think it was a great test. I had to earn my victory. Last set was actually the best set that I have played so far in the tournament.”
Djokovic fired 51 winners over the course of four sets, saving his best tennis for the final fourth set to advance.
The No. 20 seed will face another Spaniard, this time in Fernando Verdasco. The No. 30 seed upset No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-4 earlier in the day.
Germany’s Alex Zverev was once again pushed to the distance, going the full five-sets for a second consecutive match, this time outlasting Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5.
“I think it was important to see for myself that I can back-to-back five-set matches and both very difficult, physical matches,” said Zverev. “I was feeling fine physically, so for me that gives me a lot of confidence going deep into the fifth set, and long matches on this kind of surface…It gives me a lot of confidence.”
Zverev moves on to play the winner of Karen Khachanov and Lucas Pouille.
No. 19 seed Kei Nishikori will take on No. 7 seed Dominic Thiem for a spot in the quarterfinals after each won their respective third round matches on Friday.
Italy’s Marco Cecchinato upset No. 10 seed Pablo Carreno-Busta 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-1 to earn a spot in the fourth round, where he will play the winner of David Goffin and Gael Monfils.
