French Open: injured Djokovic limps into quarter-finals but raises fitness fears, Medvedev out
- Novak Djokovic comes from a set down to beat Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in fourth round
- But fifth seed Daniil Medvedev crashes out in four sets to Australia’s Alex de Minaur
An injured Novak Djokovic sealed a 15th consecutive French Open quarter-final with a thrilling comeback victory over Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round, while Daniil Medvedev became the highest seed to crash out at Roland Garros so far.
A limping Djokovic looked to be heading for a shock defeat when 2-1 down in sets and 4-2 behind in the fourth set, but battled back from the brink to delight the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd by winning 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 after four hours and 39 minutes.
“I was maybe three or four points away from losing this match,” the reigning champion said. “I’m not sure how I won this match.”
Djokovic narrowly avoided his earliest exit from the tournament since 2009, teeing up a rematch of last year’s final against Casper Ruud, who beat Taylor Fritz in four sets.
However, he said he was not yet 100 per cent sure he would be fit enough to play on Wednesday.
“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,” he said, before blaming the right knee injury he sustained on unusually slippery courts.
