Skip to main content

Djokovic races into French Open fourth round

Novak Djokovic won his race against the clock, performing in a "night show" as he beat Briton Aljaz Bedene 6-2 6-3 6-3 to reach the French Open last 16 on Saturday.

After rain cut two-and-a-half hours from the day at Roland Garros, the world number one did not even get on court until 7:25pm local time and had a small window of opportunity to ensure he got a day off on Sunday.

Hurrying the ball boys between points, Djokovic, aiming to win the only grand slam title missing from his collection, struck the ball with aggression throughout but Slovenian-born Bedene was in no mood to oblige and capitulate.

Djokovic even dropped serve in the third set but wrapped up the match on his first match point to set up a meeting with Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the 14th seed.

"I played very well, 6-2, 5-1, 30-Love, and a couple of long games where I didn't use my opportunities. But I closed out two sets pretty well. Started the third great," Djokovic, beaten in the final last year, told a news conference.

"Then the night show started, you know. I dropped my serve, the games were very long, (umpire) Pascal (Maria) was on fire.

"He was coming down from his chair. Yeah, and we went deep into night. I think we played to the maximum extent of time."

At the end of the match, Djokovic invited Frenchman Maria to come off his chair and do the post-match interview with him.

"He says he can't do it but I take full responsibility," Djokovic said in front of an amused crowd.

With rain forecast for Monday, Djokovic was well aware that a drawn-out match could complicate his schedule and he said it was about time Roland Garros modernised.

"It was getting dark. I just hope that, you know, soon that Roland Garros will at least have lights, at least on the centre court and Suzanne Lenglen," he said.

"For a grand slam you need to have lights. I'm really hoping we can have that very soon for these particular situations, especially considering the fact that forecast for weather is not that great in the following days."

The French Open is the only grand slam with no roof over the main show court, even though tournament director Guy Forget said earlier this week Chatrier would have one by 2020.

"It's not good for anybody, waiting the whole day for players, for fans, for tournament organisers," said Djokovic.



via Sify.com http://ift.tt/22sNjg5
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

RB Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin joins Leeds United on loan

Leeds [UK], Jan 27 (ANI): German football club RB Leipzig's Jean-Kevin Augustin on Monday joined Leeds United on a loan. The striker joins the Whites on an initial loan deal until the end of the season from Bundesliga outfit Red Bull Leipzig, the club said in a statement. Augustin joined the RB Leipzig in July, 2017 for a fee of 13 million Euros. The 22-year-old featured in both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League during his time with the German club, who finished sixth and third in his two seasons, where he scored 20 goals in 67 matches. French national helped his country win the European Under-19 Championship in 2016, where he scored the most number of goals and was adjudged as player of the tournament. Augustin is Leeds' third signing of the January transfer window following the joining of Elia Caprile and Ian Poveda. (ANI) via Sify.com https://ift.tt/2OiruB9
Post a Comment
Read more

Chelsea are a young team, need to improve a lot: Kovacic

London: Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic said they are a young team and need to improve a lot. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday in FA Cup. Michy Batshuayi scored the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute and Chelsea's second goal was scored in the 64th minute. "It was a tough game, as we knew that it would be, but we need to score in the first half two more goals. That's our problem in this moment but obviously we're happy to go through," the club's official website quoted Kovacic as saying. "It was because we didn't score on time - we had some chances and we didn't use them. In training, we are working on it but we are still a young team, a new team, and we need to improve a lot. We need to take our chances, which in this moment we are not doing great, but we have time to improve and I am sure we will do," he added. Chelsea are currently placed at the fourth position in the Premier League table with 40 points...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chelsea are a young team, need to improve a lot: Kovacic

London [UK], Jan 27 (ANI): Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic said they are a young team and need to improve a lot. Chelsea secured a 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday in FA Cup. Michy Batshuayi scored the opening goal of the match in the sixth minute and Chelsea's second goal was scored in the 64th minute. "It was a tough game, as we knew that it would be, but we need to score in the first half two more goals. That's our problem in this moment but obviously we're happy to go through," the club's official website quoted Kovacic as saying. "It was because we didn't score on time - we had some chances and we didn't use them. In training, we are working on it but we are still a young team, a new team, and we need to improve a lot. We need to take our chances, which in this moment we are not doing great, but we have time to improve and I am sure we will do," he added. Chelsea are currently placed at the fourth position in the Premier League table ...
Post a Comment
Read more