Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after beating Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas of their fourth-round match of the French Open tennis match on the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Sunday, June 4, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
Novak Djokovic swept into the French Open quarter-finals for the 14th straight 12 months on Sunday as world primary Carlos Alcaraz breezed previous Lorenzo Musetti to remain on a collision course with the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Third seed Djokovic ended the shock run of Peruvian outsider Juan Pablo Varillas, profitable 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, and has but to drop a set by way of 4 matches.
The Serb, chasing a 3rd Roland Garros crown, is into a file seventeenth French Open quarter-final after making the final eight at a significant for the fifty fifth time.
“I’m proud of it, but my attention is already in the next match,” stated Djokovic, who faces Russian eleventh seed Karen Khachanov for a spot within the semi-finals, the place Alcaraz may await.
“I know what my goal is here. I’m trying to stay mentally the course and of course not look too far.
“Obviously the efficiency of as we speak offers me an excessive amount of confidence about how I felt, about how I performed.”
Varillas, 27, was the first player from Peru to reach the second week of a Grand Slam since Jaime Yzaga made the US Open quarter-finals 29 years ago.
Djokovic raced 4-0 ahead in the opening set only for Varillas to break in the next game and then have a chance to get back on serve in the seventh game.
But once Djokovic held for a 5-2 lead it was plain sailing for him as he closed out victory in just under two hours.
Khachanov made his third successive Grand Slam quarter-final after he recovered from a bad start to overcome Lorenzo Sonego 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1.
Djokovic holds an 8-1 record against Khachanov, winning their only previous meeting at the French Open in 2020.
Alcaraz looked every part the tournament favourite as he dismantled the talented Musetti in straight sets to return to the French Open last eight.
Musetti had not lost a set in three rounds but Alcaraz brushed the Italian 17th seed aside in barely two hours, triumphing 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to avenge last year’s defeat on clay in the Hamburg final.
“I believe I performed such an excellent stage, actually top quality of photographs. I performed a extremely full match from the primary ball till the final and I’m fairly completely happy to get by way of this robust spherical,” said Alcaraz.
The 20-year-old faces a tough next assignment in 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, who eased past Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.
“The conflict we have been all ready for,” said Tsitsipas, the Greek fifth seed who has lost all four meetings with Alcaraz. “I believe everybody was anticipating it, weren’t they? And it is right here. It’s sport on.”
Aryna Sabalenka beat 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in a topsy-turvy encounter within the night time session — the primary girls’s match to characteristic within the primetime slot this 12 months.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka surged into a 5-0 lead within the opener however Stephens saved 4 set factors as she reeled off 5 video games on the bounce to stage.
Second seed Sabalenka finally edged the tie-break and once more held off Stephens in a decent second set to proceed her greatest run in Paris.
The Belarusian goes into a politically-charged duel with Elina Svitolina who, taking part in her first Grand Slam since turning into a mom, reached the quarter-finals for the fourth time.
The Ukrainian defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) for a seventh win in seven conferences towards the Russian who was a semi-finalist final 12 months.
As with all her matches, Svitolina opted to not shake fingers along with her Russian opponent in protest on the battle in Ukraine. Belarus can be a key army ally of Moscow.
Kasatkina nonetheless gave her rival a pleasant thumbs-up.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up, rallied from a set and a break all the way down to dump out Belgian twenty eighth seed Elise Mertens 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.
The Russian, whose rating has plunged to 333 after a severe knee harm, is the lowest-ranked Grand Slam quarter-finalist within the match’s historical past.
Pavlyuchenkova will tackle Karolina Muchova for a spot within the final 4 after the Czech noticed off fortunate loser Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-3.
