Novak Djokovic reached the fourth round of the French Open for the 16th consecutive year with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over qualifier Filip Misolic on Saturday night in a match marked by noise from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fans cheering as they watched the Champions League final on their phones.
There also were frequent sounds of fireworks popping from PSG’s stadium just a few blocks from Court Philippe-Chatrier. The French club won its first top European championship, beating Italy’s Inter 5-0 in Munich, Germany.
Djokovic had hoped to avoid playing at the same time as the soccer match so he could watch it on TV.
“It was interesting. The crowd was really following the game. And I could hear when they scored. It was way too many times that they were celebrating,” Djokovic said about the spectators in the Chatrier stands. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is a lot of goals from Paris! What’s going on?’ Now I heard it’s 5-0. Quite a result, to be honest.”
During one lengthy tennis point in the third set, some shouts accompanied PSG’s fourth goal, and afterward, the chair umpire asked the spectators to keep it down, drawing boos and whistles in response.
“Night sessions are always different. They’re always louder. The people are always more excited. Everything is always loud and different from a day session,” said Djokovic, who has won all nine sets he has played so far in this year’s tournament. “I think we are in for a long celebration and probably not much sleep tonight. It’s a fun night to be in Paris, I guess.”
Djokovic has never lost to anyone ranked as low as No. 153 Misolic at a Grand Slam tournament, and this one was never really in doubt. There was just a slight delay for him to take control: In the second game, with Misolic serving, Djokovic held seven break points — but failed to convert any.
That made it 1-all, but Djokovic kept accumulating break chances and, eventually, cashed in on his 10th to lead 4-2.
Against a man 15 years his junior, who was appearing in only his second Grand Slam tournament, the 38-year-old Djokovic made only 14 unforced errors — compared with 33 winners — and saved the only break point he faced.
“Solid when I needed to be,” he said. “There’s always something to improve. Something to get better at, but overall, I have to be pleased with the level of tennis so far.”
He improved his career record at the French Open to 99-16, equaling his number of match wins at the Australian Open.
He has won three of his 24 major championships in Paris. In a fourth-round victory last year, Djokovic tore his the meniscus in his right knee and had to withdraw.
This time, Djokovic would try to reach the quarter-finals by beating Cam Norrie later today. Djokovic is 5-0 against Norrie, including a win at the Geneva Open the week before the French Open en route to the Serb’s 100th career trophy.
Meanwhile, the women’s doubles saw Taiwanese Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko defeated by Czech Anna Siskova and Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 6-2.
Serb Aleksandra Krunic and Kazakh Anna Danilina also defeated Chinese Jiang Xinyu and Taiwanese Wu Fang-hsien 6-4, 6-3, while Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Mexican partner Giuliana Olmos lost to Italian Lucia Bronzetti and American Ann Li 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Additional reporting by staff writer
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