
Djokovic Gets on his Bike for Adrenaline Rush Around Paris
Novak Djokovic said riding a bicycle around Paris was a little more eventful than his routine victory over home player Corentin Moutet to reach the French Open third round on Thursday.
The 38-year-old Serb, bidding for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, barely needed all his gears as he rolled past Moutet 6-3 6-2 7-6(1) and afterwards told reporters that he had spent part of the previous day on two wheels.
"I have done some bike rides in the past in Paris, but I haven't done one in a while," he told reporters.
"Roland Garros was kind enough to gift me a bicycle, so I used it yesterday for the first time. We were kind of trying our luck a little bit with that roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe.
"To be honest at one point we had cars all over the place. It was quite an adrenaline experience, but I don't think I will repeat that. We were crazy enough to get into that roundabout.
"It was fun but at one point but also a bit dangerous. It's great. It's great to see Paris from, you know, from the bicycle. I think it's just more fun."
Djokovic, who warmed up for the French Open by winning his 100th career title in Geneva, has been untroubled in two rounds so far although he did have to deal with blistered feet.
"It took me almost an hour to deal with the blister and the bleeding that I had," Reuters quoted him as saying.
"So they had to use the injections and draw the blood out and then inject something to dry out the blister. So that was not really a pleasant process.
"But I don't think it's going to be an issue for me to recover. Good thing about slams obviously you have a day in between."
Up next for Djokovic is Austrian Filip Misolic.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
33 minutes ago
- Arab News
Sinner singes Lehecka, Pegula prevails on overcast day at French Open
PARIS: World number one Jannik Sinner pummelled Jiri Lehecka at the French Open to reach the fourth round while third seed Jessica Pegula took a longer route with a battling victory over 2019 runner-up Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday. As grey skies enveloped Roland Garros after the temperature soared a day earlier, an unrelenting Sinner turned up the heat on Lehecka at Court Suzanne Lenglen to win the opening 11 games of their clash without any response. Lehecka drew loud cheers when he finally got on the board but Sinner continued his Roland Garros masterclass and eased to a 6-0 6-1 6-2 victory and booked a clash with Andrey Rublev, who advanced after injured Frenchman Arthur Fils pulled out. Vondrousova is also no stranger to injuries, her latest being a shoulder problem after her Wimbledon title defense ended in the first round last year, and the Czech looked to be finding her best form again on Parisian clay. She won the opening set of her match on Court Philippe Chatrier but American Pegula proved too good when it mattered to close out a 3-6 6-4 6-2 win and will face the winner of the all-French clash between Elsa Jacquemot and Lois Boisson. 'LUCKY CHARM' Russian 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva outclassed Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-1 at Court Suzanne Lenglen and the sixth seed attributed the comfortable win to a colorful drawing a young supporter left for her on her bench. 'Wherever that little girl is, I want to thank her, because it's my lucky charm,' added sixth seed Andreeva, who became the youngest woman to complete 10 Roland Garros singles match wins since Swiss two-times runner-up Martina Hingis. Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa would have wished for a bit of luck to force a third set against a dominant Daria Kasatkina but instead crashed 6-1 7-5 to the Russian-born 17th seed who now represents Australia. 'I was ready for a difficult match,' said Kasatkina, who can expect another big test against Andreeva next. 'I knew if she got a chance, she would take it straight away. That's what happened in the second set. This is where things got tight. But I'm really proud of myself and how I handled the situation.' Three-time champion Novak Djokovic takes on qualifier Filip Misolic in the evening session seeking his 99th match victory at Roland Garros and equal his tally at the Australian Open, where he has 10 titles.


Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Russian teen Andreeva eases into French Open last 16, to meet Kasatkina
PARIS: Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva eased into the last 16 at the French Open on Saturday with a straight-sets win over Kazakh Yulia Putintseva. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport The 18-year-old, seeded sixth at Roland Garros, sealed a 6-3, 6-1 win in 78 minutes on her first match point. She next plays Australian Daria Kasatkina, ranked 17, for a place in the quarter-finals. Kasatkina got past Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa 6-1, 7-5 in their third round match which lasted one hour 33 minutes. 'I knew she's a very tricky player, she plays very interesting and makes it a little uncomfortable for me so I struggled in the beginning,' said Andreeva of her first meeting with world number 31 Putintseva. 'I practice against her so knew what to expect. I'm happy with the way I played today.' Andreeva converted five of her eight break point chances, being broken once with 18 unforced errors to 16 for her rival. Andreeva, who reached the semifinals last year, is hoping to become the youngest woman to win a Grand Slam title since her compatriot Maria Sharapova's famous 2004 Wimbledon triumph. She was still having to do school work during her run in 2024, which included a shock quarter-final win over Aryna Sabalenka. She has climbed to a career-high ranking of sixth this season and became the youngest ever winner of a WTA 1000 title in Dubai in February, before securing another at Indian Wells. Andreeva is hoping for another strong performance at Roland Garros, with both Sabalenka and reigning champion Iga Swiatek in the other half of the draw. Kasatkina, 28, competing in Roland Garros for the tenth time, reached the semifinals in 2022.


Asharq Al-Awsat
8 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Alcaraz Survives after Sabalenka, Zheng Shine at Scorching French Open
Carlos Alcaraz made heavy weather of his French Open clash with Damir Dzumhur but moved into the fourth round while world number one Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen blazed a trail on a hot Friday at Roland Garros. Defending champion Iga Swiatek continued her bid for a fifth Roland Garros title when the fifth seed stayed calm on a searing afternoon on Court Philippe Chatrier to beat Jaqueline Cristian while Holger Rune edged a brutal five-setter with Quentin Halys. Alcaraz was expected to sizzle in the cool of the evening but the second seed found himself in hot water after his level dipped against Dzumhur before recovering to seal a 6-1 6-3 4-6 6-4 win and book a clash with Ben Shelton. "It was under control during the first two sets, and then I don't know what happened," Reuters quoted Alcaraz as saying. "I think he started to play, but I let him get into the match, get into a good rhythm. I let him get into his game and I didn't know what to do. "I was a break down in the fourth, and I just tried to calm myself a little bit, think much clearer, and try to do the good things again. Just happy to take the chances he gave me in the fourth set and play great tennis at the end." Sabalenka avoided the worst of the heat in the morning but had to stave off the plucky Olga Danilovic to win 6-2 6-3 and continue her bid for a maiden Roland Garros title after major triumphs at the Australian and US Opens. The three-time Grand Slam champion looked in ruthless form while racing ahead 5-0 but Danilovic avoided the bagel by taking the sixth game on serve and pulled a break back. The resurgence did not last long as Sabalenka closed out the opening set with another break and withstood a stern test in the second set to beat her 34th-ranked opponent. Zheng, who won her biggest title at last year's Paris Games, continued her good form on the Roland Garros clay as the Chinese eighth seed made the second week by beating Grand Slam debutant Victoria Mboko 6-3 6-4 at Court Simonne Mathieu. That match was halted briefly when the 18-year-old Mboko was down 5-3 in the second set as a fan needed medical attention but Zheng was not affected when play resumed and quickly dispatched the Canadian. Former semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova required treatment for a blister on her right hand before the American secured a 7-6(4) 6-4 victory over Clara Tauson to reach the last 16 of the major where she announced herself in 2019. 'BIG HITTERS' Anisimova, seeded 16th, takes on Sabalenka in the next round aiming to improve her 5-2 win-loss record against the top seed. "We're both big hitters, so I'm sure we're going to be going at it back and forth," Anisimova said. Liudmila Samsonova will expect to be tested against Zheng after beating Dayana Yastremska 6-2 6-3. Swiatek extended her spectacular French Open winning streak to 24 matches after seeing off Jaqueline Cristian 6-2 7-5 as the temperature soared. "It was 20 degrees Celsius when I played my first match but today it was 30 degrees," Swiatek said. "It's not easy to adjust but I've played in every condition. Last year at the Olympics it was super hot, so I was ready." Up next for Swiatek is fellow Grand Slam champion Elena Rybakina, who ousted 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-2. Last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini eased past Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-4 6-1 and faces another Ukrainian after Elina Svitolina beat Bernarda Pera 7-6(4) 7-6(5). Eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti blew hot and cold against Mariano Navone before winning 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-2 while Rune beat Halys 4-6 6-2 5-7 7-5 6-2. "It was a brutal match," Rune said. "I tried to change things ... I had to put more spin on the ball because of the conditions. "The player who took the opportunities to be aggressive was the player who won." Tommy Paul also needed five sets, the 12th seed defeating Karen Khachanov 6-3 3-6 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3, while American fans had more joy as 13th seed Shelton downed Matteo Gigante 6-3 6-3 6-4 and Frances Tiafoe beat Sebastian Korda 7-6(6) 6-3 6-4. Alexei Popyrin overcame Nuno Borges 6-4 7-6(11) 7-6(5) to fly the flag for Australia while Daniel Altmaier sent Hamad Medjedovic packing 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-2. French hopes suffered a blow as Arthur Fils pulled out of Saturday's clash against Andrey Rublev with a back injury.