Djokovic sails into quarter-finals

PARIS: Novak Djokovic showed glimpses of his brilliant best to demolish Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday and book his place in the French Open quarter-finals.

The World No.1’s pace was too much for Argentine Schwartzman, who barely threatened despite enjoying a 3-0 lead in the second set. From then on, it was a oneway street for Serbian Djokovic, who won 12 of the remaining 15 games on a chilly Court Suzanne Lenglen.

“I have a lot of respect for him. He is good guy on and off the court. He is a claycourt specialist, so it is not easy, especially in slow conditions today (Sunday) with a ball that was not bouncing high,” said Djokovic of Schwartzman, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2020. “I found the good serves at the right moments.” The match looked nothing like the 2017 Roland Garros thriller between the pair, when Djokovic had to fight from two sets down to advance to the fourth round.

Djokovic, who has now reached the last-eight here for the 13th year in a row, saved two break points at 1-1 before Schwartzman dropped serve to give his opponent the early lead in the opening set.

He raced through it, barely troubled by his rival’s drop shots and almost managing to get the extra shot. But, the Argentine player was not ready to give up, broke for 2-0 in the second set and held for 3-0 only for Djokovic to raise his level again to break back. Always ready with a good serve when needed, the Serbian staved off break points in the next game to level for 3-3. He then took the 15th seed’s serve again and wrapped up set two after another break.

Schwartzman showed signs of frustration when Djokovic left him red-faced with a delightful drop shot to go 3-2 up in the third set.

Men’s singles: Fourth round: A Zverev bt B Zapata Miralles 7-6(11), 7-5, 6-3; N Djokovic bt D Schwartzman 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. Women’s singles: Fourth round: E Mertens lost to C Gauff 4-6, 0-6; L Fernandez bt A Anisimova 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; M Trevisan bt A Sasnovich 7-6(10), 7-5