Dominant Djokovic Seals QF Berth In Paris

Novak Djokovic continues to deal in straight-sets victories at Roland Garros.

A high-quality fourth-round performance took the top seed past Diego Schwartzman at the clay-court Grand Slam in Paris on Sunday afternoon. The World No. 1 saved seven break points while converting six of his own in a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 victory to set a quarter-final showdown with 13-time champion Rafael Nadal or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the French capital.

After easing past Yoshihito Nishioka, Alex Molcan and Aljaz Bedene in his opening three rounds in Paris, Djokovic produced another convincing display to see off the threat of the 15th seed Schwartzman. The World No. 1 required five sets to overcome the Argentine in the pair’s previous meeting at Roland Garros in 2017, but his all-around level this time around was such that Schwartzman was unable to drag the top seed into another drawn-out battle.

The win means Djokovic is now 16-0 in fourth-round matches at the clay-court Grand Slam, and it moves the two-time champion into a 13th straight quarter-final in Paris. Daniil Medvedev, Nadal, Hubert Hurkacz, and Holger Rune are the other players left in the draw that are yet to drop a set at this year’s tournament.

The early signs on Court Suzanne Lenglen suggested a tight encounter in store for an energetic Parisian crowd. Djokovic fended off two break points to hold in the third game as Schwartzman proved typically difficult to break down in the opening exchanges, but those opportunities proved to be as good as it got for the Argentine in the first set. Djokovic broke twice to ease to the opening set as his return game began to fire.

A change of tactics from Schwartzman brought some respite early in the second set. The Argentine attempted to quell the flow of winners from the Djokovic racquet by increasing the aggression on his own groundstrokes, and the 15th seed soon found himself 3-0 up as the Serbian momentarily lost his way.

The revival was short-lived, however, as Djokovic raised his level to reel off seven games in a row with a stunning display full of clean hitting, clever drop shots and relentless defence that left Schwartzman again scrambling for a foothold in the match.

Schwartzman had showcased his trademark resilience in coming back from two sets down to defeat Jaume Munar in the second round, but the Argentine was unable to exert enough consistent pressure on his opponent to threaten a similar feat against Djokovic. After the Serbian had stormed to the second set, the World No. 1 made his move by breaking in the sixth game of the third, showing some delightful touches at the net on his way to a two-hour, 15-minute win.

The triumph improves Djokovic’s ATP Head2Head series lead over Schwartzman to 7-0 and improves his match record at Roland Garros to 85-15. Only Nadal (108) has won more matches at the second major of the year.