Djokovic broke another record today – he played his 120th singles match at the French Open, becoming the player with the most appearances at a single Grand Slam in the Open Era. He surpassed Roger Federer (119 at Wimbledon).
Three-time champion RG was eliminated before the third round in only his first appearance at the second Grand Slam of the season.
The most decorated tennis player of all time could have finished the job in a maximum of three sets, leading 2:0 and having a break advantage in the third, but his rival came back, so the winner was decided in the fourth set.
As for the opening part of the game, it was resolved in the sixth game when the Belgrade player made a break point and held it until the end.
In the second set, Djokovic broke his opponent in the first and fifth games.
The most exciting and exciting was in the third set. Novak had two breaks (3:2 and 4:3), but the Frenchman did not give up, turned it around to 5:4, even threatening with "30 nothing". However, the Serbian ace pulled out and leveled at 5:5. After that, both men saved their serves, so the set went to a tie-break. In it, the winner of 24 Grand Slam titles took a 3:0 lead, Roaje quickly returned to 3:3. Djokovic had 5:4 and two serves to end the match, he reached 6:5 and match points, but the Frenchman won a long exchange. After another change of sides, Valentan had a set point, but Nole neutralized it, and with two consecutive points the 74th tennis player of the planet still reduced it to 2:1 in sets.
No missed opportunity disturbed the Serbian tennis player, who made a break point in the fourth set for 4:1. Leading 5:3, Djokovic missed three more match points, even neutralizing his opponent's break chance to make a full comeback, and realized a total of five match points.
What might worry all fans of the world number four is that he stopped awkwardly in the middle of the fourth set and then moved a little less, but it's probably just a mild strain...
Đoković će u narednom kolu, u petak igrati protiv pobjednika meča Žoao Fonseka – Dino Prižmić.
The tournament's top seed is Janik Siner, and the "Musketeers Cup" will have a new champion, following the withdrawal of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
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