Once again, Novak Djokovic needed five sets to advance. It took the 37-year-old tennis legend four hours and 39 minutes to get beyond Francisco Cerundolo in their 4th round French Open encounter.
The victory over the Argentine pushed Djokovic to attain a record 59th Grand Slam quarterfinal. He has reached his 18th quarterfinal in the French Open. It was also his 370th win in a Grand Slam tournament.
Novak Djokovic’s campaign to remain at the summit of the ATP rankings at the end of the French Open as well as defend his 2023 title, is still alive.
Novak Djokovic Down With Injury In 2nd Set
The 1st set was a routine set, one every audience has come to expect from Djokovic. He quickly dispatched Francisco Cerundolo 6-1, sealing two break points along the way.
Novak Djokovic was leading by one set and on serve at 1-2 in the second set when he needed the trainer for a knee injury. Later in the match, Djokovic requested to the chair umpire that the court get sprayed with water to reduce the slipping and sliding, saying that was what caused his injury.
While the trainer was working on Novak Djokovic’s knee, the commentators alluded to the scheduling disaster that had kept Djokovic on the court in his clash with Musetti till past 3 am, as the reason his body was beginning to cry out.
“This is to me a direct result of that. So, hopefully he’ll be okay because it would be a damn shame.”
Cerundolo Secures a 2-1 Lead And A 3rd Set Break
After Novak Djokovic’s injury, his play staggered. Cerundolo took advantage of this. In the second set, Cerundolo produced 13 break points, converting the last one in the 12th game to win the set 7-5.
With Djokovic visibly fatigued and also injured, Cerundolo capitalized again. The Argentine broke Djokovic in the 2nd game of the 3rd set and consolidated the break in the next game to lead 3-0. As he did in the 2nd set, the Argentine broke Djokovic’s serve again in the 9th game to lead Djokovic 2-1 in the match.
Five games into the 4th set, Cerundolo uses some excellent backhand and drop shots, with the Serbian moving less easily around the court, to drag Novak Djokovic to deuce. A drop shot gives Cerundolo the advantage and a shot from Djokovic that goes long gives the Argentine the break of serve.
This was the second time in consecutive matches that Novak Djokovic would have to come from two sets to one down, but this was the first time he was also a breakdown in the 4th set.
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Djokovic Completes An Epic Comeback
In the 8th game of the 4th set, Novak Djokovic capitalized on a long forehand from Cerundolo and a double fault to score 30-30. This stunned the Argentine and Djokovic took advantage to hit a forehand winner to bring up his 1st break point since the 1st set. Cerundolo then hit another double fault and Djokovic broke back to tie the set at 4-4.
The Serbian resorted to aces to keep his points short due to his injury and after a powerful backhand across the court, he held to love. Cerundolo also held his serve to love to keep the set at 5-5. Three games later, back-to-back Cerundolo shots into the net give Djokovic the set 7-5.
Novak Djokovic then breaks Cerundolo’s serve in the 2nd game of the 5th set but capitulated in the 4th game to gift Cerundolo a break back. Four hours and 28 minutes into the match, the Serbian secured another break to lead 5-3 and served out the match one game later to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Note:
Novak Djokovic, the three-time French Open Champion, will take on Casper Ruud after the Norwegian emerged the winner of his 4th-round match against Taylor Fritz.
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