Novak Djokovic has hailed the support he received from the Parisian crowd during his third round match at the French Open which didn’t conclude until the early hours of Sunday morning.
The top seed battled his way to a rollercoaster 7-5, 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, victory over Italian world No.30 Lorenzo Musetti after more than four-and-half hours of play. Due to poor weather affecting the schedule at Roland Garros, Djokovic didn’t walk onto the court until late at night and didn’t seal victory until 3:07am local time. Making it the latest match to ever finish in the history of the Grand Slam.
“I was in real trouble. Credit to Lorenzo for making me uncomfortable on court and playing some really amazing tennis, really high level,” Tennis Majors quoted Djokovic as saying during his post-match press conference.
“At one point, I didn’t know what to do. From both ends, he was getting a lot of balls back, winners from both corners, good servers, running every ball down the court. It didn’t feel great playing him in that third set and the beginning of the fourth.”
The 24-time major champion says he managed to regain his momentum with the help of fans cheering him in from the stands. He is bidding to become the first player other than Rafael Nadal to win back-to-back titles in Paris since Gustavo Kuerten more than 20 years ago.
“I really mean what I said on the court that the crowd definitely got me going,” he continued.
“I really needed that push, I needed that energy at two-all in the fourth. They started chanting my name, and I just felt a great new wave of willpower and energy. I think I was a different player from that moment onwards. I think from that moment onwards I only lost one game.
“The fifth set was just amazing. I was on a high, riding that wave and really not letting go of that stranglehold that I created on Lorenzo at the end of the fourth. I just kept going, kept on plugging away and an amazing winner to finish the match.
“I heard it was the latest finish of Roland-Garros in history, so I’m glad to be part of the history with Lorenzo.
“I told him at the net that he played amazing and it was a great battle. I know it’s a tough one to swallow, but he can be proud of his performance.”
Djokovic’s late-night triumph is his 369th Grand Slam win which now puts him level with Roger Federer for the most victories in history. Overall, he has played more than 400 matches at this level.
However, his clash with Musetti will be one that he will not forget for a while.
“It was so muggy and so heavy conditions, very cold, the balls were not going anywhere. You weren’t getting too many free points off the serve, so you had to work every single point of the night tonight, and that’s why I really physically pushed myself to the limit tonight.” He commented.
It can be argued that Djokovic is now at a disadvantage compared to others due to his late-night finish which could hinder his preparation for his next match. A debate the Serbian is reluctant to get involved in.
“I have my opinions, but I think there are great things to talk about instead. Both Lorenzo’s and my performances stood out, I don’t want to be talking about scheduling I think some things could have been handled a different way,” said Djokovic.
“But there’s beauty as well, I guess, winning a match at 3:30am… If it’s the last one of the tournament. But it’s not, so I’m going to have to switch on all of my young genes and try to recover as soon as possible.”
Djokovic will next play Francisco Cerundolo in the last 16. He is required to reach at least the final in Paris to prevent Jannik Sinner from snatching his No.1 ranking.
