Novak Djokovic pulls off revenge mission in French Open win vs Davidovich Fokina
Novak Djokovic was made to work in his third-round match in opposition to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina however was in a position to precise his revenge after dropping to the Spaniard of their most up-to-date encounter. The third seed wanted virtually three hours to get by the primary two units and was booed throughout a medical outing. But he held sturdy to earn a 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-2 victory to succeed in the second week.
Djokovic was in search of revenge in opposition to Davidovich Fokina, who shocked the world No 3 of their final match on the 2022 Monte Carlo Masters. They hadn’t met since however the Spaniard picked up precisely the place he left off 13 months in the past as he was the primary to attract blood within the first set.
The third seed broke straight again to maintain issues degree however he had a significant lapse whereas serving at 5-5, throwing in three double faults and receiving a time violation because the pair broke one another once more. For the second match in a row, Djokovic was in a position to grind out the primary set in a tiebreak after greater than 80 minutes as he took it 7-6(4).
A two-time former champion in Paris, the Serb regarded to hold his momentum into the second as he had three break factors on Davidovich Fokina’s serve. But the 23-year-old refused to again down and all of a sudden he was the one breaking Djokovic to steer 2-0.
The pair continued to commerce breaks because the 36-year-old bought himself straight again on serve. And when Djokovic took a break lead at 3-2, Davidovich Fokina rapidly levelled issues at 3-3. The sample continued as they exchanged breaks once more later within the second earlier than going to a different tiebreak.
And as soon as once more it was the 22-time Major champion who stepped it up when it went all the way down to the wire. After dropping his mini-break lead, he held on to take the second 7-6(5) virtually three hours into the match.
Djokovic then wanted a medical outing because the coach took to the courtroom to therapeutic massage his thigh. And the 36-year-old was booed by the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd despite the fact that Davidovich Fokina had departed the courtroom for a loo break.
But he remained targeted to begin the third set with a break and – for the primary time within the match – backed it up with a service maintain. The twenty ninth seed was then pressured to save lots of one other break level as Djokovic raced in the direction of the second week and he fell a recreation later as Djokovic got here to supply him water and a towel earlier than they resumed.
The 36-year-old was in a position to get one closing break of the Spaniard’s serve within the closing recreation of the match. Djokovic closed out a three-set victory in three hours and 36 minutes to ebook his spot within the fourth spherical, giving his opponent a heat embrace on the web.
Djokovic will now face both thirteenth seed Hubert Hurkacz or Juan Pablo Varillas – the world No 94 who upset Roberto Bautista Agut within the second spherical. The Serb’s marketing campaign for a report twenty third males’s singles Grand Slam title remains to be alive as he appears to be like to surpass long-time rival Rafael Nadal.