TENNIS FRENCH OPEN – To reach the fourth round of this year’s French Open, ‘soon-father-to-be’ Novak Djokovic needed four sets to reach the fourth round in Bois de Boulogne. The second-seeded Serb won 6-3 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 against Marin Cilic form Croatia. From Paris, Simone Kemler
Interviews, Results, OOP, Draws from the Roland Garros
To reach the fourth round of this year’s French Open, ‘soon-father-to-be’ Novak Djokovic needed four sets to reach the fourth round in Bois de Boulogne. The second-seeded Serb won 6-3 6-2 6-7(2) 6-4 against Marin Cilic form Croatia, improving to 9-0 in their head-to-head meetings, but looked sluggish at times.
“First two sets and beginning of the third I had some chances to break him and kind of get the job done in straight sets, but he started playing a little bit better. I didn’t use this opportunity that were presented, and, you know, gave him a chance to come back to the match. He played great, the end of the third, especially in the tiebreak. In the fourth, you know, 3 Love, Love 40, 4 1, Love 40, didn’t use that. And again, I complicated my own life there in the fourth. But generally it was a difficult match from different aspects.” Djokovic said after the match.
The six-time Grand Slam champion next plays 13th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who eased to a 6-4 6-4 6-3 win against No. 22 Jerzy Janowicz of Poland.
2014 could be the year of Djokovic’s first victory at Roland Garros
Djokovic is looking to win the French Open for the first time. He lost to eight-time champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals last year. In the tiebreaker, Djokovic’s weak drop shot at 6-2 down gave Marin Cilic an easy chance to whip a forehand winner. So frustration got to Djokovic in the eighth game of the fourth set, with the player shaking his head when another Cilic shot clipped the net and bounced in to give him a break point.
Djokovic then vigorously pumped his fist after saving it but then gave another chance with a backhand into the net. He got out of trouble with a strong serve that Cilic returned into the net, but Cilic took his next chance, breaking back to 4-4 with a backhand volley at full stretch at the net, however the Serb finally sealed the victory on his first match point when the 25th-seeded Croat Cilic double-faulted.
Later on Novak also gave the prospect of another Djokovic to be seen on tennis-courts before long as his younger brother, Marko, is also striving at a career as tennis pro – so does the big brother fear that day? “I hope this day comes, to be honest. I really do. What I’m going to do? I’m going to hug him, kiss him, and say: ‘Yes, you’ve done it.’ I would love this day to come.”
