Injured Djokovic turned match in Paris round of 16

After another drama, after the first set he seemed to be severely handicapped in the French Open round of 16 on Monday due to a knee injury. In the end, Djokovic turned the round of 16 against the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo to win 6:1, 5:7, 3:6, 7:5, 6:3. Two days ago he had also turned a 1:2 deficit in sets after 3 a.m.

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The recently 37-year-old’s dream of his 25th Grand Slam title at the French Open lives on. If the defending champion had lost, Jannik Sinner (ITA) would have become the new number one in the world from June 10, regardless of his performance. Djokovic thanked the audience in French. “A big thank you to all of you. This victory is your victory,” said the “Djoker.” He later said: “I wasn’t always the audience’s favorite here, today I asked the audience to help me and they did.”

Injury to the left knee

He will only see what exactly is wrong with his left knee when it is colder. Thanks to painkillers, he was almost pain-free in the fifth set. “I couldn’t really play two sets.” It is a completely new injury for him, he will see how it goes.

Everything seemed to be set up for Djokovic on his way to the quarter-finals. In the first set he stormed past second-round opponent Filip Misolic 6-1, but when the score was 1-2 in the second set the “Djoker” suddenly felt pain in his left knee and had to take a “medical time-out”. But as so often, Djokovic’s unbridled will to win increased again after losing sets two and three. He was already 2-4 down in the fourth set. “I was three or four points away from defeat,” he said later.

When he used his fourth set point in the fourth set after 3 hours and 48 minutes, the match was completely open again. A very nervous Cerundolo, like many players before him, had a very difficult time mentally, because you can never write off an ailing Djokovic. This has also given the 24-time major winner the reputation of looking for these dramas or even faking problems.

Quarterfinal against Ruud

In the quarterfinals, Djokovic will now face Casper Ruud again in a repeat of last year’s final. The Norwegian, seeded number 7, defeated the American Taylor Fritz (number 12) 7:6(6),3:6,6:4,6:2 after 3 hours and 31 minutes. Djokovic leads the head-to-head with the Norwegian 5:1, but the Serb’s only defeat this year was in the Monte Carlo semifinals. Djokovic won the Roland Garros final in three sets.

Daniil Medvedev had already had to throw in the towel once again in the towel in the west of Paris. The fifth-ranked player in the world rankings from Russia did not reach the decisive phase in his eighth appearance, the quarter-finals in 2021 remain his best result, having already failed in the first round five times. Medvedev only won the first set against the number 11 seeded Australian Alex de Minaur before going down 6:4,2:6,1:6,3:6.

Sabalenka effortlessly in the quarterfinals

In the women’s singles, number two seed Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals with ease. She eliminated the American Emma Navarro 6:2, 6:3. The Australian Open winner, who is now undefeated in eleven Grand Slam matches in a row, overwhelmed Navarro with her strong baseline play. Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, meanwhile, beat the Ukrainian Elina Switolina 6:4, 6:3.

Navarro surprised Sabalenka in Indian Wells in March and eliminated her in the round of 16, but this time the number 22 seed had no chance. The American’s first two service games were captured by Sabalenka, who had secured the set win in 30 minutes. The player from Belarus also managed an early break in the second set, and after that she didn’t let anything go wrong.

Rybakina reached her second quarterfinal at the French Open. After a slow start with lost serves on both sides, the Russian-born player, number four at the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, raised her level and didn’t really give Svitolina a chance.

In the semifinals, there could be a direct duel between Sabalenka and Rybakina. But for that to happen, the two still have to overcome their quarterfinal hurdles. Rybakina will face the Italian Jasmine Paolini, who stopped the winning streak of the unseeded Russian Elina Avanesyan with a 4:6,6:0,6:1. Sabalenka will face the 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andrejewa, who eliminated the French Varvara Gracheva 7:5,6:2.

From an Austrian perspective, Skopje Challenger winner Joel Schwärzler won his opening match in the junior competition. The 18-year-old from Vorarlberg, whose clear goal in one of his last junior tournaments is the title on the Seine, had a little more trouble than expected with the American Jack Kennedy in a 4:6, 6:3, 6:2 win. He also mastered the first round in the doubles, in which he is top seeded with the Norwegian Nicolai Budkov Kjaer.