Novak Djokovic on Monday sailed into a record 19th French Open quarter-final, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner dismantled Andrey Rublev in straight sets.
The 38-year-old Djokovic dusted aside Britain’s Cameron Norrie in three sets, his 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier bringing up the Serbian’s 100th win at the French Open.
His tally of 19 quarter-final appearances at Roland Garros is the record for a single Grand Slam tournament, surpassing the 18 quarter-finals of Roger Federer at Wimbledon.
However, Djokovic, a three-time French Open champion, is focused on much bigger goals as he chases a new outright record of 25 Grand Slam titles this week.
“I feel good. I know I can play better, but 12 sets played, 12 sets won, it’s been solid so far,” said Djokovic, who likely faces a much more difficult test against world No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
Djokovic has not played anyone ranked higher than No. 73 through the first four rounds. Zverev is last year’s runner-up and advanced when Djokovic retired injured from their last meeting in the Australian Open semi-finals in January.
Zverev moved into his seventh Roland Garros quarter-final when Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor quit with an abdominal problem while trailing 6-4, 3-0.
The German is still hunting a first Grand Slam title. He lost last year’s final to Carlos Alcaraz and then finished runner-up to Sinner in Melbourne.
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