Djokovic cruises into record 19th French Open quarter-final
The three-time French Open champion will renew his rivalry with third seed Alexander Zverev in the last eight on Wednesday after seeing off Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
His tally of 19 quarter-final appearances at Roland Garros is the record for a single Grand Slam tournament.
"I feel good. I know I can play better. But 12 sets played, 12 sets won, it's been solid so far," said the 38-year-old after his 100th French Open win.
"It's great, but victory number 101 would be better. I'm very honoured... But I need to continue now."
Djokovic holds an 8-5 winning record in his head-to-head with German Zverev, but retired injured from their last meeting in the Australian Open semi-finals in January.
Britain's Norrie, a former top-10 player now ranked 81st, has lost all six of his career matches against Djokovic.
The Serb, hoping to set a new outright record of 25 Grand Slam titles this week, dominated from the start.
He broke serve three times in a one-sided opening set, before battling through a closer second, crucially saving a break point before holding for a 3-2 lead.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
Champ leads Canadian Open as McIlroy crashes to missed cut
Champ fired four birdies in a four-under-par 66 to seize a two-stroke lead at TPC Toronto Osprey Valley, where world number two McIlroy posted an eight-over 78 to miss the cut by a wide margin. McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete a career Grand Slam, endured a horrendous day in a final start before next week's US Open at Oakmont. McIlroy's nightmare round included a quadruple bogey eight at the fifth hole, where he fired his second shot out of bounds and after a one-stroke penalty hit another shot over the green. He made a double-bogey at the 11th, where he was in the water hazard off the tee, and missed the cut for the first time this season. "Of course it concerns me," McIlroy said. "You don't want to shoot high scores like the one I did today. "I came here obviously with a new driver thinking that that sort of was going to be good and solve some of the problems off the tee, but it didn't. "Obviously going to Oakmont next week, what you need to do more than anything else there is hit fairways. When I get that part of the game clicking, then everything falls into place for me. Right now that isn't (happening). Yeah, that's a concern going into next week." Meanwhile Champ posted his second straight bogey-free round, and while he said he didn't hit it as well as he did in Thursday's 62 his 12-under-par total of 128 was enough for a two-stroke lead over American Andrew Putnam, whose bogey-free 62 was the best round of the day. Overnight co-leader Thorbjorn Olesen fired five birdies to balance three bogeys and a double bogey in an even par 70 to share third place on nine-under 131 with Canadians Nick Taylor and Richard Lee and Victor Perez of France. Taylor the 2023 champion, posted a five-under 65 while Lee carded a six-under 64. Perez made four of his six birdies on the back nine on the way to a 65. A joy to play It's been a whirlwind trip north of the border for Champ, a three-time PGA Tour winner who lost his card last year and was preparing to play in the Korn Ferry Tour event in South Carolina when he found on Tuesday he'd made the Canadian field as eighth alternate. "Luckily I actually brought my passport," Champ said. "I don't know why I brought it. I was like, you know, I'm just going to bring it in case for whatever reason, not even thinking about the tournament." Not only did Champ take the schedule shake-up in stride, he embraced the opportunity after a couple of years in which "off course stuff" had made it "a little rough for me to even be out here. "I just finally kind of accepted that and finally got some help," Champ said after a round that featured two birdies on each side. "For me, it's just a refresher to kind of be free in a sense ... I could care less what I shoot. "These last two days, it was just a joy for me to be able to play like that." Chile's Cristobal Del Solar, who flirted with a 59 before joining Olesen in shooting 61 on Thursday, carded a one-over 71 and was among a group of six on eight-under 132 that also included Ireland's Shane Lowry.
France 24
6 hours ago
- France 24
'Honoured' Djokovic hints at possible Roland Garros farewell after semi-final loss
Following his 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) loss to world number one Sinner, Djokovic stopped briefly on his way off Court Philippe Chatrier and took a moment to "show his gratitude" to the Paris crowd. "This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don't know. That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end," said three-time champion Djokovic. "But if this was the farewell match of Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd. "Not the happiest because of the loss, but, you know, I tried to show my gratitude to the crowd, because they were terrific." Djokovic has on occasion had a fraught relationship with the Parisian public, but hailed the backing he received against Sinner. "I don't think I have ever received this much support in this stadium in my career in big matches against the best players in the world. So very, very honoured to experience that," he added. 'Keep on keeping on' However, the Serb allayed fears he would be calling time on his career just yet. He stills stands on the brink of history after his latest tilt at a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title was foiled. One more major victory would take him beyond Margaret Court and into outright-first on the list of players with the most Grand Slams. "At the moment I will try to stick with the plan what I had, which is play the Grand Slams," he said. "Those tournaments are the priorities of my schedule, my calendar. Wimbledon and US Open, yes, they are in plans. That's all I can say right now. "I'm going to, unless something, I don't know, happens, whatever. But I feel like I want to play Wimbledon, I want to play US Open. Those two, for sure. For the rest, I'm not so sure." Despite the latest setback, Djokovic insisted he still has the record in his sights and hoped it will be seventh time lucky when Wimbledon starts on June 30. "Obviously Wimbledon is next, which is my childhood favourite tournament. I'm going to do everything possible to get myself ready," he said. "I guess my best chances (of winning) maybe are Wimbledon, you know, to win another Slam, or faster hard court, maybe Australia or something like that." Djokovic has won the title at Wimbledon seven times and is the the most dominant men's player in the history of the Australian Open with 10 victories in Melbourne. When asked how long he had been considering his future at Roland Garros, Djokovic cryptically replied: "Not long. You know, I don't know. "I don't know really what tomorrow brings in a way at this point in my career. You know, I going to keep on keeping on." Djokovic has appeared in the last 21 editions of the French Open -- lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2016, 2021 and 2023. Last summer, he secured the only big title to have eluded him through the majority of his career when he won Olympic gold on centre court at Roland Garros. "We hope that it's not the case, because I feel like tennis needs him in a way," said Sinner when told of Djokovic's comments. "He said 'maybe', so you never know."
France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Top-seed Sinner beats Djokovic to reach French Open final against Alcaraz
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner from Italy beat Novak Djokovic from Serbia 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) to set up a French Open final against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic is the men's record 24-time Grand Slam champion but could not counter Sinner's relentless accuracy and pounding forehands on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Sinner became only the second Italian man to reach the final at Roland-Garros after Adriano Panatta, the 1976 champion. Earlier, Alcaraz led 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 2-0 against Lorenzo Musetti when the eighth-seeded Italian retired with a leg injury. Sinner is aiming for his fourth major title, Alcaraz his fifth.
