Novak Djokovic will bid to achieve the French Open fourth spherical for a 14th consecutive yr on Friday, after girls’s third seed Jessica Pegula was dumped out of the match by Elise Mertens.
Djokovic has made headlines for his feedback about Kosovo this week however might be hoping his progress on Court Philippe Chatrier stays serene after two straight-sets wins thus far.
He mentioned after his second-round win over Marton Fucsovics that the message “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” he scrawled on a digital camera following his opening match was “something I stand for”.
His subsequent opponent, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, will seemingly present a sterner check, although. The Spaniard has slipped to quantity 34 on the planet rankings this season however was runner-up on the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters final yr.
Two-time champion Djokovic, who has reached the French Open quarter-finals in every of the previous 13 years, would be the red-hot favorite.
The 36-year-old is hoping to interrupt out of his tie with injured rival Rafael Nadal on the high of the boys’s all-time record of main winners at Roland Garros.
He is only one title behind Serena Williams’ mark of 23 Slams and two adrift of Margaret Court’s general document.
Djokovic has received two of his three matches with twenty ninth seed Davidovich Fokina, however misplaced their final assembly in Monte Carlo 12 months in the past.
World primary Carlos Alcaraz, thought-about the favorite and slated to fulfill Djokovic within the semi-finals, options within the night-session match in opposition to proficient Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
The 20-year-old Spaniard has defeated gamers ranked exterior the highest 100 in his first two matches.
Shapovalov is of a far larger calibre, although, regardless of struggling for kind in latest months.
The Canadian was ranked within the high 10 lower than two years in the past and was a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2021.
Shapovalov is an enormous admirer of Alcaraz, who’s bidding for a second straight Slam title after profitable the 2022 US Open and lacking this yr’s Australian Open with damage.
“I think he’s a great guy. He’s super humble for achieving what he has at such a young age,” mentioned the 24-year-old forward of their night-session encounter.
“You can see how much he enjoys being on the court.”
PEGULA DUMPED OUT
American Pegula’s hopes of a deep run in Paris had been led to complete trend by Belgian Elise Mertens.
The twenty eighth seed cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory to achieve the fourth spherical for the third time.
World quantity three Pegula, who solely has two WTA Tour titles to her title, has nonetheless by no means handed the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam match.
“I’m very happy to win in two sets. She’s a very good player,” mentioned Mertens.
The former Australian Open semi-finalist will subsequent face the winner of an all-Russian tie between Anastasia Potapova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Russian Daria Kasatkina, a semi-finalist final yr, raced into the second week by thrashing American Peyton Stearns 6-0, 6-1 in beneath an hour.
The ninth seed will face both compatriot Anna Blinkova or Elina Svitolina on Sunday for a spot within the quarter-finals.
Ukrainian Svitolina has reached the third spherical on her first Grand Slam look because the 2022 Australian Open.
She is now on a seven-match profitable run after additionally profitable the title in Strasbourg final week, beating Blinkova within the last.
Svitolina refused to shake her Russian opponent’s hand after that match and can seemingly repeat that stance on Friday.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
