An injured Novak Djokovic proved why he is the best around thanks to a French Open classic victory against Francisco Cerundolo.
However, he later put doubts over whether he would even be able to continue in the tournament.
A fighting Djokovic battled his own body to take 23rd seed Cerundolo all the way, eventually beating the Argentine 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth round of the French Open, an epic that will be remembered for years.
It saw him break Roger Federer’s legendary record, winning the most Grand Slam matches in men’s tennis, registering his 370th victory.
But he was made to work hard for it after blitzing the first set, with problems starting to arise for Djokovic as he looked in agony, even yelping in pain on the Philippe Chatrier court.
The world No. 1 hit out at the ground officials and insisted the court was too slippy, resulting in an injury, but the officials refrained from his request to sweep the clay.
It led to Djokovic needing significant treatment to his knee, which was perhaps aggravated by a gruelling second set that went 7-5 in Cerundolo’s favour.
On the side of the court, medics attended to the 24-time Grand Slam winner, working his injured leg before he returned to action.
The Argentine then seemed to feed on the momentum and took the third set 6-3 as Djokovic continued to complain about the conditions.
Brimming with frustration, Djokovic lashed out at the chair umpire and mics even caught him saying to the referee: “You screwed up my knee.”
The 37-year-old was forced to play until 3am in a brutal third-round match on Saturday against Lorenzo Musetti, which eventually finished 7-5, 6-7(6-8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
And it showed as the fourth round stretched into its fourth hour with Djokovic limping around the court.
Needing to win the fourth set, Djokovic called upon every ounce left in his body to push Cerundolo all the way, eventually taking the set 7-5 with awe-inspiring grit.
Even considering the prowess the tennis legend has, levelling the sets in such fashion was completely against the odds considering he almost looked down and out by the time Cerundolo had taken advantage of his knee complaint.
Those injury concerns seemed to disappear as the match entered its fifth set, particularly in the eighth game when Djokovic fought back from 40-0 down to win it to take the set to 5-3.
That seemed to knock the stuffing out of the brilliant Cerundolo, who had arguably put in the best performance of his career, as Djokovic went on to take the set and the game – four hours and 39 minutes after it started.
While he had problems with the crowd at Roland Garros earlier in the tournament, this time they were fully with him as they chanted his name.
And he thanked the fans who watched him on the Philippe Chatrier, a change in tone considering the problems the tournament faced in the earlier rounds.
Speaking in French, Djokovic said: “Again I’ll speak in French because I need to say a big thank you because again like my last match the win is for you and helped by you [the crowd].
“The last match I was two sets to one down and at the fourth set you gave me so much energy and tonight also you did the same. Really, thank you, what can I say?
“Three or four times I was points away from losing this match and thank you to my opponent. He deserves so much applause that’s for sure. I’m not sure how I won this match again.
“Thank you for the support.”
No one could take their eyes off this match, and credit must also go to Cerundolo for serving up a French Open classic.
After the match, Djokovic admitted he may even have to withdraw from Roland Garros.
“The adrenaline, of course, that kicks in, that helps you go through the tournament,” he said.
“Sometimes it is a match or two, sometimes the entire tournament. Good thing about the slam is that you have a day between that will allow hopefully the healing process to happen more efficiently for me. That’s it.
“I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or after tomorrow if I’ll be able to step out on the court and play. I hope so. Let’s see what happens.”
News Summary:
- Novak Djokovic may be forced to take drastic step amid French Open injury concerns
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