Novak Djokovic vs Struff
The Serbian is bidding to win Roland Garros for a second time, and if he does go all the way in Paris, he will complete the career Slam for the second time in his career, and hold all four Grand Slams at the same time, just like he did in 2016 when he won his first Roland Garros title.
Considering where he was around this period last year- ranked out of the top-20 struggling for form and fitness, and even written off by some, it has been an incredible effort to put himself in a position to pull off a second 'Nole Slam'. Djokovic has progressed through the Roland Garros draw without much trouble, taking out Hubert Hurkacz, Henri Laaksonen and most recently, Italian qualifier, Salvatore Caruso in the third round.
The chances of Djokovic losing to world No. 147, Caruso were very remote, and while the Serbian admitted to being surprised by the level the Italian produced, the top seed still pulled off a routine 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory. Djokovic sent down eight aces and won 85% of points on his first serve, saving all the five break points he faced. He would have wanted tidier numbers than the 25 winners and 32 unforced errors he churned out, but overall, he would have been pleased with the result and his general form at the 2019 French Open.
“It's been a while since I have performed here for the first time, but I still want to keep going. Obviously I have been playing really well this year, and reaching a second week of a Slam is a success," Djokovic said. "The matches are going to get more challenging because the opponents you're going to play are better quality and higher-ranked and so forth. So it's going to get only tougher from here. But I look forward to it."
Djokovic has not always played at this level in 2019- he was on top of his game at the Australian Open, where he crushed Rafael Nadal in the final, but he had a surprisingly quiet Sunshine Double, failing to make a quarter final at Indian Wells and Miami. His form has improved through the clay court season, winning in Madrid, and reaching the final in Rome, and he has continued in a similar vein at Roland Garros where he will battle Jan-Lennard Struff for a quarter final berth on Monday.
Considering where he was around this period last year- ranked out of the top-20 struggling for form and fitness, and even written off by some, it has been an incredible effort to put himself in a position to pull off a second 'Nole Slam'. Djokovic has progressed through the Roland Garros draw without much trouble, taking out Hubert Hurkacz, Henri Laaksonen and most recently, Italian qualifier, Salvatore Caruso in the third round.
The chances of Djokovic losing to world No. 147, Caruso were very remote, and while the Serbian admitted to being surprised by the level the Italian produced, the top seed still pulled off a routine 6-3 6-3 6-2 victory. Djokovic sent down eight aces and won 85% of points on his first serve, saving all the five break points he faced. He would have wanted tidier numbers than the 25 winners and 32 unforced errors he churned out, but overall, he would have been pleased with the result and his general form at the 2019 French Open.
“It's been a while since I have performed here for the first time, but I still want to keep going. Obviously I have been playing really well this year, and reaching a second week of a Slam is a success," Djokovic said. "The matches are going to get more challenging because the opponents you're going to play are better quality and higher-ranked and so forth. So it's going to get only tougher from here. But I look forward to it."
Djokovic has not always played at this level in 2019- he was on top of his game at the Australian Open, where he crushed Rafael Nadal in the final, but he had a surprisingly quiet Sunshine Double, failing to make a quarter final at Indian Wells and Miami. His form has improved through the clay court season, winning in Madrid, and reaching the final in Rome, and he has continued in a similar vein at Roland Garros where he will battle Jan-Lennard Struff for a quarter final berth on Monday.
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