Defending champion and world no. 1 Novak Djokovic prevails against Lorenzo Musetti in an exciting match at the French

novak djokovic

After a 3:08 a.m. Parisian epic, Novak Djokovic advances to the French Open semifinals for the 18th time;

Felix Auger-Aliassime schedules a match with Carlos Alcaraz; and from June 10–16, you can watch Andy Murray compete live at the Stuttgart Open exclusively on Sky Sports Tennis.

In the closest match finish in French Open history, Novak Djokovic, the defending champion and top-ranked player in the world, prevailed against Lorenzo Musetti after a five-set, nearly five-hour thriller.


In an exciting match that began at 10.40 p.m. local time on Saturday, the defending champion displayed the steely determination that has made him one of the best players in the history of the game to escape losing.

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After a match that lasted four hours and 29 minutes and ended on Sunday after 3am local time, Djokovic went on to seal a marathon 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 2-6 6-3 6-0 comeback victory over 22-year-old Italian Musetti to advance to the last 16. This match broke the tournament’s previous record of 1.26 am.


At the top of the all-time rankings, the Serbian tied Roger Federer with his 369th Grand Slam title.
On the court, Djokovic remarked, “He played a fantastic match and came very close to victory.”


“I was having a lot of trouble, but in the fourth set, with your help, I changed as a player. I think that was the finest game I’ve ever played here.”

After losing the first set badly, the 37-year-old battled the Italian player to a standstill and eventually prevailed with a vital break, all owing to some amazing defending.


After a stunning drop to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, Djokovic was soon in cruise control.


However, Musetti rallied to draw the match at 4–4 and then saved a set in a thrilling tie-break.


Then, as Djokovic’s fatigue started to show, the 30th seed raised his game even further to break and dominate the third set before easily winning it.

Djokovic had to dig deep to tie the match.


In the final, umpire Adel Nour penalized Djokovic for a time violation, causing him to lose his first serve.

Djokovic vented over the condition of the surface. “Please, just a little understanding,” he said.


Even yet, at the horrible hour of 3.08am, he found his groove again and bagelled his worn-out opponent.


“Who’s going to sleep now?” Djokovic continued. “Sleeping is unattainable due to excessive adrenaline.

I’m coming if you’re throwing a party.”


The 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, who made it to the fourth round the previous year, will be the opponent for the 24-time Grand Slam winner.


The three-time Roland Garros winner Djokovic has to make it to the final in order to have any chance of holding the top position, but if Jannik Sinner advances to the final on Sunday, he will undoubtedly become the 29th player in history (since 1973) to take the top place.


Zverev advances after surviving the Griekspoor marathon.

Global No. 4 After a long battle, Alexander Zverev defeated Tallon Griekspoor 3-6 6-4 6-2 4-6 7-6 (10-3) to maintain his chances of winning a maiden Grand Slam championship.

  • “Amazing player, amazing match, and quite dangerous. I prefer not to compete with him. Bravo to him,” Zverev remarked.
  • After winning his first two matches, including a first-round victory against Rafael Nadal, Zverev, a semifinalist the previous three years, found himself behind when the Dutch 26th seed took the opening set.
  • After leading 5-4 in the second set, the German broke serve to tie the match.
  • The German also breezed through the third set, and it looked as though Zverev would win easily when Griekspoor called a medical timeout.
  • But after two service breaks, Griekspoor forced a decisive set and led 4-1 until Zverev stormed back to win four straight games.


After an exciting battle that lasted more than four hours on Court Philippe Chatrier, Zverev blasted down an ace to seal the victory and go to the second week for the eighth time in a row.

The Dutchman held his composure to force a tie-break.


FAA organizes the blockbuster Alcaraz

Felix Auger-Aliassime, ranked 21st in Canada, defeated Ben Shelton, ranked 15th in America, 6-4 6-2 6-1, in a rain-delayed third-round match.


When play was suspended due to rain on Friday, Auger-Aliassime maintained his lead of 5–4 in the opening set. He will now play Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16.


Although the Canadian has a 3-2 advantage over the Spaniard in their matches, Alcaraz has prevailed in their last two games.


“Today, I performed really well in the things that I could control,” Auger-Aliassime remarked.


“I’m happy with the way I managed the match and challenged him.

I was able to push his targets on the first serve by making a lot of returns.”

We had to rally each time because he was not receiving as many easy points on that serve as he typically does, and I believe it paid off as the match progressed.”


Play on the outside courts was again interrupted by rain.


Medvedev triumphs over fearlessly Machac

Daniil Medvedev advanced to the round of 16 after defeating Tomas Machac 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 1-6 6-4 in a thrilling match that took place inside on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.


Last month, Machac made headlines when he upset top-seeded Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Geneva Open, earning the greatest victory of his career, and he outlasted Medvedev in a match that lasted more than three hours.


“It was a very tough match, I’m very happy I stay constant even in the difficult moments,” Medvedev stated.


“It was close. I’m glad I prevailed even though the match might have gone other way.”


After breaking Machac in the third set, Medvedev lost his way and gave up, much to the dismay of a spectator weary of action on this gloomy day in Paris.

The Czech player, 23, went on to win the next six games.


But Medvedev found his focus in the fourth set, as the fifth seed prevailed in the pivotal moments despite Machac’s audacious attempts to force a decider.


After Alex de Minaur defeated German Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-3, Medvedev will now take on the 11th-seeded player.
De Minaur expressed gratitude to a teenage fan who followed him through his rain-delayed victory in four sets.

He stated: “That young lad was there from the very first point till the last – with five hours of rain delay.”

He was this small child who would yell in my face at every point I won and every change of ends. It was rather chilly outside, so if I were a fan, I would definitely be back inside while I stare at him.”

I just hugged him.

I felt like amateur.

Beyond everything else, it was a relief.

It was incredible.

I enjoy this young man.

“You know, yeah, the fact that he’s spent 10 hours at the court today in the freezing cold pumping me up, I was happy that I was able to get a win together with him.”


On social media, The 11th Seed posted: “I need to find out this legend’s name!!!” For the upcoming round, I need you to message me on Instagram.”

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