Two-times champion Novak Djokovic huffed and puffed however pressured his means into the fourth spherical of the French Open following a 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 6-2 win over Spanish twenty ninth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Friday.
Djokovic, who’s aiming to leapfrog injured champion Rafa Nadal and win a twenty third Grand Slam title, got here into the match at Courtroom Philippe Chatrier having misplaced to Davidovich Fokina the final time they met in Monte Carlo.
The 36-year-old Serbian was given an early reminder of his struggles in that 2022 match by the man-bun sporting Davidovich Fokina, who had the world quantity three tied up in knots with some heavy hitting and breathtaking drop photographs.
Djokovic creaked on serve however hit again when it mattered to stage at 3-3 and edged the 83-minute first set with a blistering crosscourt winner that drew large roars.
A charged-up Djokovic responded to an early break with two of his personal however dropped serve once more within the wildly swinging second set, earlier than shrugging off three double faults at 5-5 and a time violation to double his benefit in one other tiebreak.
He known as the coach onto the courtroom for an obvious left leg situation, sparking fears the damage that accompanied his run to the Australian Open title in January had returned, however pulled away within the third set and crossed the end line in model.