The defending champion wins a four-and-a-half-hour epic to keep his hopes of a 25th Grand Slam title alive.
Novak Djokovic’s bid for a 25th Grand Slam was briefly hung by a thread on a cold, wet night at Roland Garros, but the Serb fought back 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6- 0 over Lorenzo Musetti in the last French Open final.
The defending champion showed the iron will that has made him one of the game’s greatest players to avoid defeat in a thrilling third-round contest that kicked off at 10:37pm local time (8:37pm GMT) on Saturday.
Around four and a half hours later, at 3:06 am (01:06 GMT) on Sunday morning, the fans who had huddled under the carpets as the 37-year-old orchestrated his excellent reaction rose to raise the roof of the main court.
“He played a fantastic match and was very close to victory,” Djokovic said on court about Musetti.
“I had a lot of difficulties, but thanks to your support in the fourth set I became a different player. It was perhaps the best game I played here.”
Djokovic recovered from an early loss of serve and faced the Italian in a grueling first set before taking the lead with a crucial break in the 12th game thanks to some incredible defending.
The world number one put his head down and took a deep breath after that long rally, but was soon on cruise control in the second set with a spectacular fall that gave him a 3-1 lead.
Musetti, however, recovered to level at 4-4 before saving a set point in a high-quality tiebreak to level the match.
The 30th seed took his game up a few notches to break and advance in the third set, before sealing it comfortably as alarm bells began to ring for a weakened Djokovic.
Djokovic, who spoke about the state of the surface to the referee, suddenly rediscovered his rhythm to close out the quarter before pulling away from his exhausted opponent in the decider.
“Who’s going to sleep now?” Djokovic added. “It’s impossible to sleep, so much adrenaline. If you’re having a party, I’ll go.”
The title defense is still alive #Roland Garros @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/iis8IUKCMI
-Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2024
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev also survived a marathon night scare to progress to the fourth round with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10- 3) about the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.
In the women’s draw, second seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated best friend Paula Badosa 7-5 6-1 in a trial encounter, while Russian-born Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva won many new admirers after maintaining her flag of his adopted country raised.
After Corentin Moutet gave French fans a Friday night to savor victory over Sebastian Ofner, new crowd favorite Gracheva brightened up another soggy day with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu .
The last Frenchwoman remaining in the women’s draw watched a moving rendition of the national anthem, La Marseillaise, and joined the fans in celebration.
“I will remember this moment until the end of my life,” said Gracheva, who received her French passport in 2023 after living in the country for more than five years.
“It means everyone accepts me, that I’m at home here.”
While Gracheva was the center of attention in the afternoon, fellow Moscow player Elena Rybakina continued to fly under the radar as the fourth seed overcame Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-2.
Canada’s 21st seed Felix Auger Aliassime closed out a 6-4 6-2 6-1 victory over American Ben Shelton under the roof of Suzanne Lenglen as rain delayed the action on the outside courts.
When play resumed, Alex De Minaur completed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Jan-Lennard Struff, becoming the first Australian to reach the fourth round of Paris since Lleyton Hewitt in 2007, and launched a search for a superfan who spurred him on.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
