Novak Djokovic takes revenge at French Open to book his spot in the last 16

Novak Djokovic booked his spot in the French Open fourth round on Friday with a 7-6 7-6 6-2 victory over 29th-seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

It marked revenge for Djokovic, who lost to the Spaniard in his opening match at last year’s Monte-Carlo Masters.

Djokovic won in straight sets but that did not tell the full story of the match – with Fokina putting up an excellent fight and forcing two tie-breaks – but the 23-year-old wasted set points as the Serbian went into cruise control in the third.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion will next face 13th-seed Hubert Hurkacz or Peruvian world No.94 Juan Pablo Varillas in the last 16 and remains on course to meet fellow Roland-Garros favourite Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

Djokovic battled through windy conditions in a closely fought first set – registering four double faults and giving his opponent the opportunity to serve for the set – before going 1-3 down in a tie-break to eventually take it 7-6 (7-4).

The 36-year-old was broken early in the second set as Fokina went 2-0 up but he broke the Spaniard back twice to lead 3-2. It went to 5-5 after three more breaks – two for Fokina and one for Djokovic – and Fokina had a set-point opportunity but wasted it as it went to another tie-break as the Serbian won 7-6 (7-5).

Djokovic, looking to move ahead of Rafael Nadal for the most major men’s singles titles in history and lift the third Roland-Garros trophy of his career, required a medical time-out on his left thigh just before the third set and raced into 3-0 lead after an early break, eventually winning it 6-2 to secure his place in the last 16.

Elsewhere at Roland-Garros on Friday, seventh seed Andrey Rublev suffered a shock exit to world No.48 Lorenzo Sonego.

Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, Aryna Sabalenka continued her quest for the title with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Kamilla Rakhimova to book her fourth-round spot.

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