World No. 1 Novak Djokovic overcame Tallon Griekspoor on Thursday, winning 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters.Djokovic looked rusty, having only played two singles matches since the Davis Cup six weeks prior. He lost an early 4-1 lead in the first set and missed several break opportunities at the beginning of the second.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion persevered in the face of these early setbacks, winning the tiebreak with ease to secure his spot in the quarterfinals and maintain his hopes of winning a record-tying seventh Paris Masters championship.
The 36-year-old Djokovic added, "I run out of steam; I've been struggling the last couple of days with my stomach; I didn't feel myself at all on court."" I played a solid tiebreak and felt better on the third, but it could have gone easily in his favour. I'm overjoyed that I overcame this obstacle.
Following his second-round match against Mackenzie McDonald, Jannik Sinner, the #4 seed, withdrew from the competition due to health issues. Australia's Alex de Minaur will now compete against fifth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev, who defeated qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp to earn his 20th Masters 1000 title this year.
With a decisive 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over German tenth seed Alexander Zverev, seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas guaranteed his place in the ATP Finals. In the upcoming quarterfinals, Tsitsipas will play 16th seed Karen Khachanov, who defeated fellow Russian Roman Safiullin.
After defeating Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, Hubert Hurkacz, ranked 11th in Poland, maintained his chances of making it to the ATP Finals in Turin. Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov easily defeated Alexander Bublik and will now take on Hurkacz in the semi-finals. Sixth seed and current winner Holger Rune easily defeated Daniel Altmaier to round off the day and set up a meeting with Djokovic in the championship match.
Image Source: X
© Copyright 2023. All Rights Reserved Powered by Vygr Media.
