Djokovic endures another French Open marathon, defeats Cerundolo to reach French Open quarters

Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-1 5-7 3-6 7-5 6-3 on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals of the French Open, overcoming a knee injury for a milestone victory.

Big-hitting women's title contenders dominated their opponents earlier, with second seed Aryna Sabalenka defeating American Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-3, and fourth seed Elena Rybakina defeating Ukraine's Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-3.

Mirra Andreeva, a Russian 17-year-old, then defeated former compatriot and newly-French Varvara Gracheva 7-5 6-2 to end home hopes in the afternoon, but all eyes were on a potential upset on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Djokovic, who is chasing a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title, was forced to play five sets for the second time in less than 48 hours, but he showed his class to win his 370th major match, breaking a tie with retired Swiss great Roger Federer.

The Serb also celebrated reaching his 59th major quarter-final, the most by any men's player, to surpass his long-time rival Federer once more, while an 11th five-set Roland Garros victory tied him with Gael Monfils and Stan Wawrinka in the Open Era.

"Again a big, big, big thank you because once again like the last match. The win is your win," an exhausted Djokovic told the crowd in fluent French.

However, Djokovic's title rivals in Paris will be smelling blood after another inconsistent performance.

The 37-year-old showed no early signs of fatigue after his marathon third-round win over Lorenzo Musetti, which lasted four and a half hours and ended in the early hours of Sunday morning, as he blitzed claycourt specialist Cerundolo in the first set.

He suffered a right knee injury early in the next set and required on-court treatment before saving four break points with a backhand bullet to tie the match at 3-3, but surrendered his serve in the 12th game, allowing his opponent to recover.

Cerundolo took another break early in the next set to go 3-0 up and comfortably led the match as alarm bells began to ring for Djokovic in his second straight match at the claycourt Grand Slam, which he has won three times.

Cerundolo appeared to be on his way to victory when he led 4-2 in the next set, but the 25-year-old squandered the lead as Djokovic sent down two big serves and produced a spectacular drop en route to holding for 6-5 before levelling the match.

Djokovic dropped serve after a fast start in the deciding set, then took a nasty tumble during a point and complained about the Court Philippe Chatrier surface.

He dusted himself off and smiled again shortly after, executing a sensational drop volley while doing the splits at 3-3, and celebrating the point by lying on the court with his arms outstretched in a superhero pose.

With the crowd firmly behind him, Djokovic completed a stunning victory and paid tribute to fans on the main showcourt around 9 p.m. local time.

"I actually felt great coming into the match, as good as I could under the circumstances and played really well first set," Djokovic told reporters.

"Then in the third game of the second set, I slipped, one of the many times that I slipped and fell today. That affected the knee... At one point I didn't know, to be honest, whether I should continue or not."

The tournament's top seed will next face Norway's Casper Ruud in a rematch of last year's final, after the seventh seed defeated American Taylor Fritz 7-6(6) 3-6 6-4 6-2.

Alex de Minaur ended a two-decade Australian jinx by defeating Daniil Medvedev 4-6 6-2 6-1 6-3 and becoming the first Australian to reach the last eight at Roland Garros.

He will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev, who defeated 13th seed Holger Rune 4-6, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2 in an early morning match.

SportsLigue