Novak Djokovic has gotten one over Rafael Nadal, dethroning the Spanish grasp at his favorite Grand Slam.
Djokovic booked his place within the quarterfinals of the French Open after registering his fourth consecutive straight-sets victory.
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The 22-time Grand Slam winner proved too robust for Juan Pablo Varillas as he recorded the 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win.
He’ll now face quantity eleven seed Kharen Khachanov with a semi-final spot up for grabs for the victor.
The win nevertheless noticed Djokovic create a wild piece of French Open historical past as he grew to become the participant with essentially the most quarterfinals reached on the main of all time.
Entering the event he was locked atop the leaderboard with Nadal at 16-all, however now sits alone on the prime of the Roland Garros mountain.
The statistic is even wilder when you think about the sheer dominance Nadal has had on the clay floor for nearly 20 years.
Nadal has made 18 appearances at his favoured Grand Slam, falling wanting a quarterfinals berth in 2009 and 2016.
In the 16 instances he’s superior to the quarterfinal phases he’s solely did not go on to win all of it on two events. Both losses got here by the hands of Djokovic, in 2015 and 2021.
Djokovic has now appeared on the Grand Slam 19 instances, solely failing to achieve the quarterfinal stage twice. In 2005 when he made his debut after which once more in 2009.
Unlike Nadal, Djokovic has solely gone on to win the French Open two instances in comparison with Nadal’s absurd 14.
Djokovic has one other probability to dethrone Nadal, this time atop the all-time male Grand Slam winners listing.
If he can reign supreme at Roland Garros he’ll declare his twenty third Grand Slam crown, transferring one away from Nadal and drawing degree with Serena Williams. It would put him one behind the all-time chief Margert Court who has 24 to her identify.
The indicators for his remaining opponents appears to be like confronting with the Serbian saying he’s feeling higher than he has after his latest win.
“(There was) great energy on the court, from the crowd and myself as well,” mentioned Djokovic after the match. “I really enjoyed it, my best performance in the tournament so far.
“It came exactly at the right time, as I’m coming in to the second week and obviously playing another quarter-final, the matches are going to get tougher. Bigger challenges, but I like the way I’m playing and the way I’m feeling, so I look forward to a new challenge.”
Djokovic can reclaim his World no. 1 rating with victory on the French Open, a win that may give him his third Roland Garros crown.
“(I’m) definitely better than I did in the last couple of months,” mentioned Djokovic, when requested about if the shot at Grand Slam historical past serves a further strain.
“The past 10 days have been the best that I have felt since the Australian Open, so that’s good. That’s positive news. I just have to keep going and not allow myself to think too far (ahead), but I’m on a good path.”
The Serbian will return to the court docket on Tuesday evening when he goes up towards Khachanov.
Djokovic holds an 8-1 document towards Khachanov, successful their solely earlier assembly on the French Open in 2020.
Source: www.news.com.au
