Djokovic cruises into last 16
World number one Novak Djokovic eased into the last 16 at Roland Garros yesterday to step up his bid to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously for the second time. The Serbian saw off unseeded Italian Salvatore Caruso 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a fourth-round tie with either Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff or Croatian 13th seed Borna Coric.
“Finally, I think I found my best form in the second set,” said Djokovic, who is yet to drop a set in the tournament after straightforward wins over Hubert Hurkacz and Swiss lucky loser Henri Laaksonen. “It’s good, I’m very motivated here at Roland Garros, the most beautiful tournament in the world.” It is the 10th successive year the top seed has reached the second week -- and 13th in total -- as he looks for a second French Open title after sealing his first ‘Djoko’ Slam in Paris in 2016.
Djokovic was never in any real trouble against world number 147 Caruso on Court Philippe Chatrier, breaking serve five times in the match and saving all of the five break points he faced. The 32-year-old finished with eight aces and 25 winners against an outclassed opponent.
Osaka crashes out Top women’s seed Naomi Osaka’s hopes of winning a third successive Grand Slam ended when she was knocked out in the third round by unheralded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. Japanese top seed Osaka, the reigning US and Australian Open champion, crashed to a 6-4, 6-2 defeat to the 42nd-ranked Czech.
Osaka was undone by a shocking 38 unforced errors as she finally ran out of luck in Paris having had to come back from a set down in her first two matches. “It’s amazing, I can’t believe it, I am so happy now,” said Siniakova, who was the women’s doubles champion in Paris in 2018 alongside Barbora Krejcikova.
“I played my best tennis and I hope it continues.” Osaka dropped the first set for the third successive match at the tournament, squandering seven break points in all. Alexander Zverev advanced after beating 30th seed Dusan Lajovic in yet another five-set match. He’ll face Fabio Fognini next, the No. 9 seed who got the better of No. 18 Robert Bautista Agut to clinch a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory.
Stanislas Wawrinka and Stefanos Tsitsipas were also back in action yesterday and completed wins over respective third-round opponents Grigor Dimitrov and Filip Krajinovic to progress in Paris. Simona Halep also returned to Court Philippe-Chatrier and dominated 27th seed Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-1 to notch a valuable victory in her title-defence run at Roland Garros.
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