Does Djokovic’s next foe have hope? ‘I was wondering that’
PARIS » At the mere mention of Novak Djokovic’s name, at the mere thought of sharing a court with a 17-time Grand Slam champion and the French Open’s No. 1-seeded man, Daniel Elahi Galan broke into a wide smile Thursday.
He used these phrases: “really, really excited” and “really, really happy” and “really, really special.”
Galan is, after all, ranked 153rd and never had won so much as one main-draw match at any major tournament until this week. Making this run to the third round even more improbable: The 24-year-old from Colombia lost in qualifying at Roland Garros and only got into the bracket when other men withdrew from the field.
So, sure, it was a big deal for Galan to beat Tennys Sandgren
6-2, 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. And, to be sure, a bigger deal to contemplate Saturday, when he will face Djokovic, who has dropped a total of 10 games through two matches so far after overwhelming Ricardas Berankis
6-1, 6-2, 6-2 — and is someone Galan has spotted in the locker room but never spoken to.
It’s the sort of David vs. Goliath matchup that happens often in tennis but is in particular abundance this year in Paris.
Galan is one of nine men ranked outside the top 100 into the third round, equaling the most at any Grand Slam tournament in more than a quarter-century (Wimbledon in
1994); the last time there were as many as nine at Roland Garros was 1985.
There were some unfair-onpaper matchups established Thursday by the women, too.
Australian Open champion
Sofia Kenin, who is seeded fourth, will face 105th-ranked qualifier Irina Bara. Two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova next meets 100th-ranked Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez. Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champ, plays 87th-ranked Paula Badosa, who arrived in Paris with a 1-5 Grand Slam record.
Maybe all of the success for those who haven’t done it before is due to this being as unusual a French Open as there’s ever been.
Whatever the case, it’s instructive to remember that occasionally, of course, the stone finds its mark.
Which perhaps is why this was Galan’s philosophy as he
looked ahead: “Just try to win. Just give it all you have. And that’s it. At the end of the day, it’s just another match.”
So the obvious question: How do you, as the owner of two career Grand Slam match victories, maintain sufficient self-belief and hope ahead of facing Djokovic, whose 292 wins at majors include 70 at the French Open alone?
“Well,” came Galan’s reply, “I was wondering that, to be honest.”
At least Galan has this going for him: For as much as he has been able to study Djokovic over the years — “A lot; a lot; he’s always on TV; always on the center court; always in the finals” — the reverse is not the case.