DJOKOVIC MOVES INTO FRENCH OPEN QUARTERFINALS
LONDON — World number one Novak Djokovic earned a record-breaking 11th consecutive quarterfinal appearance at the French Open on Monday with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory against Russian Karen Khachanov.
Djokovic, who is aiming for a second Roland Garros title since 2016, secured the win in 2 hours 26 minutes under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier as heavy rain poured down in Paris.
Earlier in the women’s draw, Czech seventh seed Petra Kvitova progressed to the last eight after a commanding 6-2, 6-4 win against China’s Zhang Shuai.
Kvitova is one of only four seeds left in the women’s tournament and meets German Laura Siegemund in the last eight after her 7-5, 6-4 win against Spain’s Paula Badosa.
American Sofia Kenin recovered from a set down to dismiss French favourite Fiona Ferro 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, but the Australian Open champion will have to wait until a day for her opponent to be determined.
Tunisian Ons Jabeur and fellow American Danielle Collins warmed up on Court Suzanne Lenglen, which has no roof, but never got to start because of the weather and will now open Tuesday’s play on Chatrier.
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitipas, seeded fifth, advanced as he battled past Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6 (11-9), 6-2 in an enthralling 2:26 hours match.
Tsitsipas moves into a quarter-final against 13th seeded Andrey Rublev — a 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) winner over Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics — in a rematch of last week’s Hamburg final won by the Russian.
Djokovic will also have a rematch with Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta again in the quarter-finals after he bested German qualifier Daniel Altmaier 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.
They last faced each other in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open, where Djokovic was disqualified for hitting a ball at a line judge.
Djokovic said he experienced a moment of “deja vu” in the first set against Khachanov when a mistimed return flew off the Serbian’s racket and hit the face of a line judge.
No punishment was necessary because it was during play and the umpire was not hurt.
“Obviously because of what happened in New York, people I guess are going to make the story out of this,” Djokovic said.
“I saw he had a little bit of a bruise, like redness, in that place in the head where the ball hit him. It was a very awkward situation.”
The 17-time grand slam champion created a 4-1 deficit en route to a two-set advantage and was handed another early break by Khachanov’s mistakes in the third.
Khachnaov folded again to trail 5-3 and Djokovic secured a record last eight appearance at Roland Garros with a forehand winner.
Tsitsipas’ meanwhile bagged a third consecutive victory in straight sets after surviving a five-set scare in the first round.
“It was a very good lesson for me, the first-round match,” said Tsitsipas.
“I think I was just more awakened on the court, more responsible for what I was doing. That is also the reason why I’ve been doing so well in the last nine sets that I’ve played.”
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova raced into a 4-0 lead en route to serving out the first set.
World number 11 Kvitova, who is yet to drop a set, opened up a 3-1 gap in the second and despite initially failing to serve for the match at 5-2, secured victory in 1:25 hours.
When Kvitova hit a backhand winner to bookend the contest, she was emotional on court.
In 2017, Kvitova made her tennis comeback in Paris after a terrifying knife attack at her home in the Czech Republic in 2016 when she suffered damage to her left hand.
“When I made my comeback here 2017, when I step on the Philippe-Chatrier, I couldn’t really imagine me to be in the quarter-final of this slam,” Kvitova explained.
“Everything came to my mind when I had my whole family, people who I loved that helped me through the tough, tough time.”
She has reached the last eight in Paris for the first time since 2012, when she lost in the semi-finals to eventual winner Maria Sharapova.
“At that time was such a great for me to be in the semi-finals,” reflected Kvtiova.
“After eight years to be in the quarter-final again, it’s great.”