French Open: Novak Djokovic, Zverev, Fernandez, Gauff advance to quarters

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 where he is likely to face 13-times champion Rafael Nadal.

The world number one'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 one-way 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's good guy on and off the court and he's a claycourt specialist so it's not easy especially in slow conditions today 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."

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 opponent's drop shots and almost managing to get the extra shot.

But the Argentine was not ready to give up and he broke for 2-0 in the second set and held for 3-0 only for Djokovic to raise his level again to break back with a crosscourt forehand winner.

Always ready with a good serve when needed, the Serbian staved off break points in the next game to level for 3-3, 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.

Djokovic, back on the Grand Slam scene after being barred by local authorities from playing at the Australian Open over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, ended the Argentine's ordeal by winning his final service game to love.

Third-seed Alexander Zverev reached his fourth quarterfinal at Roland Garros. Zverev clinched a marathon opening set in a dramatic tie-break and was forced to recover from a break down in the second before going on to seal a 7-6(11), 7-5, 6-3 triumph over the No 131-ranked Miralles.

He struck 34 winners to just 13 from Zapata Miralles, but Zverev will hope to reduce on his unforced error count of 63 for his quarter-final match .

US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez won a baseline battle against American 27th seed Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to book her spot in the quarter-finals for the first time.

The only other time the Canadian left-hander made the second week of a Grand Slam was during her run to the final at Flushing Meadows in 2021 when she lost to fellow teenager Emma Raducanu.

On an overcast and chilly morning on Court Philippe Chatrier, the 19-year-old Fernandez put pressure on Anisimova's serve from the outset and quickly racked up a 4-0 lead, mixing deft drop shots with crushing forehands.

The 20-year-old Anisimova, known for her easy power behind her groundstrokes, managed to get two service breaks back to make it 3-5 but could not stop Fernandez from taking the opener.

Three years ago, Anisimova, seeded 27th seed this year, became the youngest American to reach the Roland Garros semi-finals since Jennifer Capriati in 1990.

After a quick bathroom break, Anisimova returned more focused, found a bit more control with her powerful groundstrokes and advanced to the net more often to break her opponent's delivery twice to win the second set.

Anisimova had two breakpoint opportunities on Fernandez's first service game in the deciding set but the Canadian served an ace and then hit three crushing winners to hold.

Fernandez got the crucial break in the fifth game to nose ahead in the riveting contest as the American made her frustration evident by throwing her racket away after sending a forehand long.

The Canadian broke again in the ninth, converting her second matchpoint when Anisimova's return did not make it past the net.

Fernandez will play Italian world number 59 Martina Trevisan, who beat 47th-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-6(10) 7-5, for a place in the semi-finals.

American teenager Coco Gauff reached the quarterfinals after beating Belgium's Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-0.

Gauff, seeded No 18, was down a break twice in the first set against No 31 seed Mertens, but won the last eight games of the match. She wore Mertens down over the course of 82 minutes with world-class defense.

The 18-year-old American won 51 of the 75 total points of more than five shots in the match. On the other hand, Mertens, who missed much of the clay-court season before the French Open with an injury, hit 25 unforced errors and only 15 winners.

Gauff, conversely, hit 19 winners to 17 unforced errors. She also broke Mertens six times and won 17 of 20 points when she went to the net. Agencies

Also Read: Sania Mirza-Ivan Dodig lose second round of French Open

Also Watch: 11 UP Govt Orders Removal of Illegal Loudspeakers from Religious Places