Djokovic cruises into quarterfinals
FRENCH OPEN The 20th seed Serb, making a comeback, advances to lasteight stage for 12th time, beating Verdasco
PARIS: Resurgent former champion Novak Djokovic reached the French Open quarter-finals for the 12th time on Sunday as he subdued feisty Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
The Serb, seeded 20 after a well-documented slump, was given a ferocious fight in the early stages with the opening three games lasting 29 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.
But what looked like being a long evening for the 12-time Grand Slam champion ended up being a reasonably comfortable one as he generally called the shots.
One break of serve was enough to take the opening set and although left-hander Verdasco produced some thunderous winners to stay in touch in the second, his challenge faded.
Djokovic, who completed his career Grand Slam by winning in Paris in 2016, sped away with the third set and will now face Marco Cecchinato who defeated eighth seed David Goffin 7-5, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Second seed Alexander Zverev stayed on course with a hard-fought win. The German youngster’s appetite for five-set marathons showed no signs of shrinking and even blisters on his toes could not stop him from storming into his first major quarter-final with a 4-6, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Karen Khachanov.
The German had survived successive five-setters in the previous two rounds, including saving a match point against Damir Dzumhur in the last 32, but his fatigued legs and blistered feet again worked overtime to carry him over the finishing line against Khachanov.
After looking down and out for much of the third set, Zverev was fired up by a code violation for being coached from the stands by his father Alexander Sr midway through the fourth set and he vented his anger by instantly breaking for a 4-2 lead.
He was fortunate to survive a break point when serving for the set at 5-3, with Khachanov’s blazing forehand clipping the net cord and bouncing just millimetres behind the baseline, before