Stricken Djokovic stages an escape act at the French Open, Medvedev eliminated

Injured Novak Djokovic completed his 15th consecutive French Open quarter-final on Monday with a thrilling comeback win over Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round as Daniil Medvedev became the top seed which has collapsed so far at Roland Garros.

In the women’s draw, both Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina comfortably reached the last eight.

A limping Djokovic looked headed for a shock 2-1 down and 4-2 down in the fourth set, but he fought back from the brink to delight the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd with a 6-1 win, 5-7. , 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 after four hours and 39 minutes.

“I was maybe three or four points away from losing this match,” said the defending champion. “I’m not sure how we won this match.”

Djokovic narrowly avoided his first exit from the tournament since 2009 by starting a rematch of last year’s final against Casper Ruud, who defeated Taylor Fritz in four sets.

However, he said he is still not 100% sure he will be fit enough to play on Wednesday.

“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or the day after tomorrow if I will be able to go on the field and play. I hope so. Let’s see what happens,” he said, before blaming the right knee injury he suffered on unusually slippery pitches.

“Could this injury have been prevented? Possibly,” added Djokovic, who said he asked for the court to be swept more often.

Djokovic had reached the last 16 by beating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in another five-set encounter that ended at 3:07 a.m. on Sunday.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner appeared to feel no ill effects as he dominated the first set, but then needed a medical time-out early in the second after stopping with an injury apparent at the knee.

The 37-year-old, who was chasing a record 370th Grand Slam match win to move level with Roger Federer, held on but continued to tread cautiously between points.

Cerundolo took the second set by finally getting a break after 12 previous misses.

The 23rd seed went from two sets to one against an increasingly frustrated seed before coming close to a famous victory by forging a 4-2 lead in the fourth.

But seemingly out of nowhere, Djokovic dug deep to break and level at 4-4.

He forced a fourth set point decider in a dramatic 12th game when a stretching Cerundolo could only find the net.

It looked like only one result was on the cards when the Serbian star took a 2-0 lead in the fifth, but his opponent clawed back to draw level.

Djokovic was left covered in clay after a nasty fall, sarcastically saying: “Well done stewards, ground staff, everyone, the court is not slippery at all.”

But he was not to be denied, grabbing the decisive break with a forehand that clipped the back of the baseline.

A dramatic triumph and another quarter-final berth was secured on his first match point when a backhand from Cerundolo was ruled out by the chair umpire after he was initially ruled out.

– De Minaur defeats Medvedev –

Fifth seed Medvedev suffered a four-set defeat to Australia’s Alex de Minaur, starting strongly before slipping to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 defeat.

De Minaur will face Alexander Zverev in his second Slam quarter-final and first at the 2020 US Open.

Medvedev’s best performance at the French Open remains a quarter-final in 2021, while he has also lost in the first round in five of his eight appearances.

“Alex played better,” admitted Medvedev, a former US Open champion and six-time Grand Slam finalist.

De Minaur had never made it past the second round at the tournament until this year, winning just three of 10 matches.

Zverev won his second consecutive five-setter, coming from behind to defeat Holger Rune 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in a session match of night which finished again in the early hours of the morning.

It was the second final in tournament history at 1:40 a.m., just two days after Djokovic and Musetti set the record.

The German world number four is playing under the shadow of an ongoing trial in Berlin over allegations of assaulting an ex-girlfriend.

– Walk for Sabalenka –

On the women’s tour, world number two Sabalenka, who was a semi-finalist in 2023 and has made at least the last four in the last six Grand Slam tournaments, proved far too strong for American 22nd seed Emma Navarro.

The Belarusian entered the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 36 winner.

Sabalenka, who lost to Iga Swiatek in the Madrid and Rome Open finals this season on clay, will play 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva in the last 16.

Andreeva became the youngest women’s quarter-finalist since the 2005 French Open with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Russian-born French player Varvara Gracheva.

Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, the fourth seed, defeated Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-3 and will next face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.

jc/mw

FOX28 Spokane©