French Open: Djokovic nerves of steel in the round of 16 in Paris

French Open
Djokovic nerves of steel in the round of 16 in Paris

Novak Djokovic reached the round of 16 of the French Open. photo

© Christophe Ena/AP/dpa

Novak Djokovic reaches the round of 16 in Paris without losing a set. Especially at the end of the first two rounds he shows his extra class. There are disagreements with the viewers.

With a little effort, Novak Djokovic made the next step towards the desired sole Grand Slam title record at the French Open.

In the third round of the clay court classic, the 36-year-old Serb defeated the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7: 6 (7: 4), 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 2 and achieved that for the 14th time in a row Round of 16 in Paris.

Strong nerves in tie-breaks

The third in the world rankings had to survive several difficult moments in the first two rounds and gave up his own serve five times. In the tie-breaks, however, he once again showed nerves of steel and, after 3:36 hours, remained in the tournament without losing a set. In the round of the top 16, Djokovic meets the winner of the match between Juan Pablo Varillas from Peru and Hubert Hurkacz from Poland.

At times Djokovic messed with the Paris audience on the Philippe-Chatrier court. When some spectators booed the Serb’s break in treatment after winning the second set, he waved his hand at them to continue, clapped maliciously and gave a thumbs-up. After winning the match, the cheers from the audience clearly outweighed the crowd.

In the absence of the injured defending champion Rafael Nadal, Djokovic wants to make his 23rd triumph in a Grand Slam tournament perfect. He currently shares the men’s record with the Spaniard.

dpa

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