Novak Djokovic survived an early injury scare to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-1 5-7 3-6 7-5 6-3 in a five set thriller at Roland Garros.
Djokovic survived an early injury scare to defeat the Argentinian in a five set thriller.
Cerundolo was two sets and a break up but couldn’t finish the match in what was a brutal four and a half hour match.
Now Djokovic will prepare for an 18th Roland Garros quarter-final against Casper Ruud or Taylor Fritz.
To start the match, Djokovic was suffering from neck problems but had no problems in dispatching the tame Argentinian early on.
A ruthless-looking Djokovic was clinical and aggressive as the Serb broke Cerundolo twice as he wrapped up the opening set 6-1.
However that’s where the good news ended for Djokovic as Cerundolo improved at the start of while Djokovic was clearly struggling with a leg injury.
After three games, the defending champion had a medical time-out and was not happy with the fact that the court was not being swept after every second game.
The world number one was struggling with his movement while Cerundolo was struggling to convert his break point opportunities.
This made for a fascinating match as Djokovic had a real shot of taking a two set lead despite barely being able to chase down Cerundolo’s dropshots.
A crucial stage of the match as a tiebreak neared closer, which is Djokovic’s natural habitate.
However Djokovic’s legs started to fatigue as Cerundolo continued to strike the ball with power, making the Serb run all over the court.
The Argentinian’s brutal hitting paid off as Cerundolo broke to take the second set 7-5 as he dealt a big blow to Djokovic’s hopes of winning the match.
As Djokovic’s frustrations continued to boil over, Cerundolo’s level of play improved as he had his sights set on dealing another blow to Djokovic’s hopes of winning the match.
An early break did the damage as Djokovic had next to no energy left and would have to win this match in five sets if he wanted to reach the quarter-finals.
After another early break of serve, Cerundolo was closing in on one of the biggest wins of his career at 4-2.
But never count out a champion as Djokovic managed to put pressure on the Argentinian, who faltered when it mattered most.
A motivated and passionate Djokovic roared to three consecutive games to put pressure on Cerundolo.
There was a good response from the 23rd seed who held convincingly and created break point to keep the pressure on Djokovic’s serve.
The Serb retaliated in fine form, producing some epic points to hold serve before creating two set points in a dramatic turn of events.
Cerundolo did well to deny Djokovic but the Serb was consistent in his wave of pressure and eventually the Serb reaped his reward as he sealed the comeback by taking a 61 minute set, 7-5 to force a fifth set.
Winning the fourth set gave Djokovic the confidence boost he needed as the Serb played unstoppable tennis to gain the early break and a 2-0 lead.
The Serb was moving Cerundolo from side-to-side but the Argentinian never gave up and came back into the third game and converted two break points.
Despite being wasteful on break points, a lucky net cord gave Cerundolo the opportunity to hit a backhand winner and get back back on serve as he roared in delight with Djokovic becoming frustrated again.
Djokovic’s frustrations would grow as he would slip in the next game, leading him to restart talks with the umpire over the state of the court.
The Argentinian was in full swing and he would continue to put the pressure on with effortless holds of serve.
However Djokovic refused to give up either with both players producing an insane level of tennis as the deciding set approached a critical stage.
The critical stage of sets is usually when Djokovic is so good and the Serb proved that once again as he broke an eight minute game to have the chance to serve for the match.
A disheartened Cerundolo couldn’t mount another comeback as Djokovic held to 15 to secure an epic comeback.
After the match Djokovic admitted he didn’t know how he won the match, “Again I’ll speak in French because I need to say a big thank you because again like my last match the win is for you and helped by you [the crowd],” Djokovic was quoted by the BBC as saying in his on-court interview.
“The last match I was two sets to one down and at the fourth set you gave me so much energy and tonight also you did the same. Really, thank you, what can I say?
“Three or four times I was points away from losing this match and thank you to my opponent. He deserves so much applause that’s for sure. I’m not sure how I won this match again.”
Now Djokovic will play an 18th Roland Garros quarter-final on Wednesday against Casper Ruud or Taylor Fritz.
