Two-times champion Novak Djokovic huffed and puffed however pressured his manner into the fourth spherical of the French Open following a 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-2 win over Spanish twenty ninth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Djokovic, who’s aiming to leapfrog injured champion Rafael Nadal and win a twenty third grand slam title, got here into the match at Court Philippe Chatrier having misplaced to Davidovich Fokina the final time they met in Monte Carlo.
The 36-year-old Serbian was given an early reminder of his struggles in that 2022 match by the man-bun sporting Davidovich Fokina, who had the world No.3 tied up in knots with some heavy hitting and breathtaking drop photographs.
Djokovic creaked on serve however hit again when it mattered to stage at 3-3 and edged the 83-minute first set with a blistering crosscourt winner that drew enormous roars.
A charged-up Djokovic responded to an early break with two of his personal however dropped serve once more within the wildly swinging second set, earlier than shrugging off three double faults at 5-5 and a time violation to double his benefit in one other tiebreak.
He referred to as the coach onto the court docket for an obvious left leg challenge, sparking fears the harm that accompanied his run to the Australian Open title in January had returned, however pulled away within the third set and crossed the end line in fashion.
Italian Lorenzo Sonego upset seventh seed Andrey Rublev 5-7 0-6 6-3 7-6(5) 6-3 to achieve the fourth spherical, and Eleventh-seed Karen Khachanov beat Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in 4 units, successful 6-4 6-1 3-6 7-6(5).
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
