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05/27 13:01 CDT Djokovic pushed in 4-set win amid heat wave at French Open.
Rybakina beaten in big day for Ukraine
Djokovic pushed in 4-set win amid heat wave at French Open. Rybakina beaten in
big day for Ukraine
By ANDREW DAMPF
AP Sports Writer
PARIS (AP) --- Novak Djokovic placed ice packs around his neck and on top of
his head during changeovers to keep cool amid the Paris heat wave at the French
Open on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old Djokovic was pushed by 74th-ranked French player Valentin Royer
--- who is 15 years younger than him --- for more than 3 hours before he
reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 victory.
For the fourth straight day of this year's tournament, the temperature rose
above 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit).
"It was a very, very difficult match in difficult conditions" Djokovic said. "A
big challenge for me. ... Experience helped me a lot."
When Djokovic won a key point early in the fourth set with a forehand that he
whipped around the net post from far off the court, the 24-time Grand Slam
champion waved his arms toward the crowd inside Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Djokovic wasted a chance to close the match out earlier when he missed a
backhand long in the third-set tiebreaker then required four more match points
in his final service game before a forehand from Royer landed in the net to
conclude a long rally.
When it was finally over after 3 hours and 44 minutes, Djokovic first nearly
stumbled to the clay. Then he performed his violin celebration, acting as if he
were playing the strings on his racket like the musical instrument.
Before arriving in Paris, Royer had earned only one tour-level win across 11
tournaments he played this season.
Djokovic came to Roland Garros with questions over his form after getting beat
in his only clay-court match before the tournament. He lost to Croatian
qualifier Dino Prizmic at the Italian Open after two months out due to a right
shoulder injury.
But Djokovic is playing himself back into form after coming back from a set
down to beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, another Frenchman, in a first-round
match that lasted nearly three hours.
Djokovic improved to 14-0 in his career against Frenchmen at Roland Garros and
reached the third round in Paris for a 21st straight year. He raised the Coupe
des Mousquetaires trophy in 2016, 2021 and 2023.
"Hopefully I won't face another Frenchman until the end of the tournament,"
Djokovic said with a laugh during his on-court interview. "Oh my God, I've had
enough."
One duo of Djokovic fans inside the main stadium held up a sign with a goat on
it --- for "Greatest of All Time" --- that read "39 is the new 29."
Up next for Djokovic is potentially a bigger test against either 19-year-old
Brazilian Joao Fonseca or the 20-year-old Prizmic, who were playing later.
Fonseca has been touted as a future Grand Slam contender, while Djokovic
himself pointed to big things ahead for Prizmic after their meeting in Rome.
Later, second-seeded Alexander Zverev was playing Tomas Machac in the night
session.
Ukraine gets 3 wins Elena Rybakina, this year's Australian Open winner, was beaten by Ukrainian opponent Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4). Also advancing were in-form Ukrainians Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, who are coming off trophies at the Madrid Open and Italian Open, respectively. The seventh-seeded Svitolina beat Kaitlin Quevedo 6-0, 6-4 to extend her winning streak to eight matches. The 15th-seeded Kostyuk beat Katie Volynets 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 to extend her winning streak to 13 matches. Swiatek improves Paris record to 42-3 Four-time champion Iga Swiatek improved her career record at Roland Garros to 42-3 by eliminating 35th-ranked Sara Bejlek 6-2, 6-3. Swiatek won Roland Garros in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Swiatek next faces Magda Linette in the first all-Polish meeting at Roland Garros in the professional era (since 1968). Linette eliminated 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Also, 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic beat American opponent Caty McNally 6-4, 6-0. ___ AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report. ___ AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis |
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