Novak Djokovic has moved into the third spherical of the French Open.
Within the second spherical of the distinguished Grand Slam occasion in Paris, the sixth seed defeated residence participant Corentin Moutet in straight units, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (1), after a troublesome match lasting three hours and 5 minutes on the Suzanne Lenglen court docket.
The match didn’t begin nicely for Novak. He misplaced his serve within the very first recreation. However he rapidly discovered his rhythm and broke proper again. The important thing second got here within the sixth recreation, when he broke Moutet once more and took management of the set. He held on to that lead and took the primary set in 45 minutes.
Djokovic dominated the second set, particularly in longer rallies. He had a number of probabilities to interrupt early on and eventually did within the third recreation. After that, he stayed in management. Although he missed just a few break level probabilities in an extended fifth recreation, he broke his rival once more within the seventh recreation and closed the set 6-2 after 59 minutes.
The third set was more difficult. Novak needed to take a medical timeout for blisters, and Moutet took benefit by breaking for a 4–2 lead. However Novak responded instantly with a break to stage the rating at 4–4. The set went to a tiebreak, and Novak stepped up like he so usually does, successful it 7-1 to seal the match.
“Mentally I needed to keep concentrated and ready for a match like that,” Djokovic stated. “Corentin is a participant who has nice pace, it was an ideal battle, particularly the third set. I saved a set level. At that second, something is feasible. I discovered a shot to remain within the set, a very good service. I feel basically I performed nicely, I managed to remain calm on court docket, which wasn’t simple at instances.”
Match statistics: aces (5-4), double faults (2-3), winners (44-29), unforced errors (33-33), complete factors received (120-93).
Within the third spherical of the French Open, Novak will face Austria’s Filip Misolic on Saturday. The 23-year-old qualifier, presently ranked No. 153 on this planet, pulled off a five-set upset over the No. 27 seed, Denis Shapovalov of Canada, within the second spherical.
Photograph: Profimedia
