Djokovic eases into record 17th French Open quarter-final

PARIS: Novak Djokovic reached his 55th Grand Slam quarter-final and record 17th at the French Open on Sunday with a straight-sets win over Juan Pablo Varillas. Djokovic, chasing a third Roland Garros championship and record-setting 23rd men’s Grand Slam title, eased past his 94th-ranked Peruvian opponent, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. The 36-year-old Serb, champion in Paris in 2016 and 2021, will face 11th seed Karen Khachanov for a place in the semi-finals. Djokovic holds a commanding 8-1 career lead over the Russian including their only previous meeting at the French Open in 2020. "I had never played my opponent before.

I knew he was a clay court specialist and that I had to earn the victory. It was the best I played this week," said Djokovic after ensuring a 14th successive last-eight spot at the tournament. On his record 17th quarter-final in Paris, he added: "I am very proud of this record. I have put a lot of effort into my game and I am very motivated to continue." On Sunday, Djokovic fought off a break point in the opening game of the first set before stretching out to a convincing 4-0 lead. Two more breaks then helped him to a comfortable 5-1 advantage in the second set. It took Djokovic just 79 minutes to open a two-set lead. That was in stark contrast to his gruelling third round win over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The first two sets then needed two hours and 53 minutes to negotiate and his eventual straight-sets win proved to be the longest three-setter he had ever played, clocked at three hours and 36 minutes.

Varillas, who had never won a Grand Slam match before this year’s French Open, continued to wilt, slipping 2-1 down and then 4-1 down in the third before Djokovic put him out of his misery after a shade under two hours on court. Meanwhile, Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic advanced to the last eight of the French Open for the first time on Sunday as she beat lucky loser Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-3. The 43rd-ranked Muchova will play 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a spot in the semi-finals. Her best run at a Grand Slam came when she reached the last four of the Australian Open two years ago.Russian 11th seed Karen Khachanov reached the French Open quarter-finals for the second time on Sunday with a four sets win over Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, setting up a potential clash with Novak Djokovic.

Khachanov came through 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1 to reach his third straight quarter-final at the Slams. "I didn´t know what to do in the first set but I said just fight my way through," said the Russian. "I served for the third set, got broken and was 4-0 down in the tiebreak. It was just like the last match and I won that anyway." Two-time champion and 22-time Grand Slam title winner Djokovic was facing Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru later Sunday attempting to reach his 14th successive Roland Garros quarter-final.