(Paris) Serbian Novak Djokovic broke a tie with his rival Rafael Nadal on Sunday by reaching the quarter-finals of the French Tennis Open for the 17e times – a tournament record – thanks to an outright 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win over Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas.
“Well, I’m proud of it, but my attention is already on the next game,” said Djokovic, who will cross swords with Karen Khachanov, 11e seeded, for a spot in the semi-finals and a possible meeting with world number one Carlos Alcaraz.
“I know what my goal is here. I try to stay focused, mentally, and, of course, I don’t look too far ahead. »
That’s because Djokovic, who won in one hour 57 minutes, could also overtake Nadal in an even more prestigious category: the number of triumphs in men’s singles at Grand Slam tournaments. Both players have 22.
In Djokovic’s case, that total includes clay-court crowns at Roland-Garros in 2016 and 2021. If he wins the tournament this year, Djokovic will become the first male tennis player to lift each other’s commemorative trophies. of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments at least three times.
PHOTO CLODAGH KILCOYNE, REUTERS
Novak Djokovic
Nadal has won French Open honors on 14 occasions, but is absent this year due to a hip injury for which he underwent arthroscopy on Friday night. It is quite possible that he will be inactive for the rest of the year.
“I really wish his rehabilitation process can go well and that we can see him next season. He is so important to our sport, on and off the court, one of the greatest tennis legends in the history of sport,” praised Djokovic when speaking of Nadal.
“There is no doubt that we want to see a healthy Rafa. »
Meanwhile, Alcaraz extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 11 – he won the US Open last September and missed the Australian Open in January with a leg injury – by defeating Lorenzo Musetti, ranked 17e6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
PHOTO EMMANUEL DUNAND, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Carlos Alcaraz
In his second consecutive appearance in the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros, Alcaraz will face the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded fifth, who easily defeated the Austrian Sebastian Ofner 7-5, 6-3, 6-0 in 1 h 48 mins.
Close to a Federer record
Meanwhile, third-seeded Djokovic will advance to the quarter-finals in Paris for a 14e times in a row. It will also be a 55e presence in the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam tournament, a total surpassed by only one player, Roger Federer, who retired with 58 qualifications in the quarter-finals of a major tournament.
Djokovic will take to the court on Tuesday with an 8-1 positive record against Khachanov, who beat Lorenzo Sonego 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(7), 6-1.
“He represents one of the toughest tasks, one of the toughest rivals,” Khachanov said of Djokovic, “and you can’t count him as a loser.”
On a hot, sunny day on Sunday, Djokovic, unsurprisingly, was dominant on the court at the Philippe-Chatrier stadium. Rated 94e in the world, Varillas had never won a match at a Grand Slam tournament before the current edition of the French Open.
The 36-year-old Serbian, seeded third in the tournament, completed the duel with more than double the winners – 35 against 15 – and three fewer unforced errors – 20 against 23.
Djokovic won 15 points in 17 forays at the net, and put in play 80% of his first serves. He converted six break points in 12 attempts and lost serve only once.
Another win for Svitolina
On the side of women’s singles, Elina Svitolina, who is participating in her first Grand Slam tournament since she gave birth to a child in October, qualified for the quarter-finals. Svitolina beat Daria Kasatkina, last year’s semi-finalist and ninth seed, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
PHOTO CHRISTOPHE ENA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Elina Svitolina
After the match, Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, did not shake hands with her opponent, a Russian, because of the war raging in her country. Kasatkina gave a thumbs up to Svitolina.
PHOTO BENOIT TESSIER, REUTERS
Daria Kasatkina
Svitolina’s next outing will see her face the winner of the match between second-seeded and defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka and American Sloane Stephens.
In addition, two players not ranked among the top seeds have reached the quarter-finals and will face each other. They are Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, finalist at Roland-Garros in 2021, and Karolina Muchova.
Pavlyuchenkova, who sat out the tournament last year due to a long absence with a knee injury, beat a ranked player for the third straight game. This time his victim was Elise Mertens (28e) against which Pavlyuchenkova won 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3.
PHOTO EMMANUEL DUNAND, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Before Roland-Garros, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had won only five games on the main circuit since her return in early 2023.
For her part, Muchova beat Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-4. Avanesyan was eliminated in the qualifying round, but found herself in the main draw following the withdrawal of Romanian Patricia Maria Tig.
Ball boy hit by ball leads to disqualification
Women’s doubles player Miyu Kato and her partner were forced to forfeit after Kato accidentally hit a ballboy in the neck after a point on Sunday.
In the second set of a match played on court 14, Kato swung her racket and the ball flew towards the ball boy, who was not looking in the direction of the player.
At first, the chair umpire Alexandre Juge only gave the Japanese a warning. But after tournament referee Rémy Azemar and Grand Slam supervisor Wayne McEwen went to court 14 to check on what had happened, Kato and his partner, Indonesian Aldila Sutjiadi, been disqualified.
Thus, the Czech Marie Bouzkova and the Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo were declared victorious.
Bouzkova said she did not see the ball hit the ball boy, but added that “she cried for like 15 minutes”.
“It’s just a bad situation for everyone,” Bouzkova added. “But it’s something that I guess is in the regulations as such, although it’s very unfortunate for them. […] In the end, it was the referee’s decision. »
Associated Press