French Open: Djokovic rallies from the brink to beat Cerundolo in fourth-round classic

Paris: Defending champion Novak Djokovic endured a session with the physiotherapist and many ups and downs to win his second five-set thriller at the French Open on Monday, beating Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina to reach the quarterfinals.

The Serbian looked down and out against Cerundolo when he trailed by two sets to one and a break, conjured up more magic in the French Open as he showed incredible resistance to turn the tide and earn a dramatic 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

With this win, Djokovic maintained his chances of reaching the final and holding on to the World No.1 ranking.

The 37-year-old, who had battled past Lorenzo Musetti in a five-set encounter in the third round that finished at 3:07 a.m. on Sunday morning, came back to the court without a few hours and faced another tricky opponent. The Serbian backed up that remarkable victory with another titanic effort against Cerundolo to earn back-to-back five-set victories for the first time since Roland Garros in 2012 when he reached the final.

Despite the late finish against Musetti, Djokovic looked fresh during the opening stages against Cerundolo in the pair’s first meeting. However, the top seed tweaked his knee at the start of the second set, and had to take treatment and the issue impaired his movement in the second and third sets, with the Serbian seemingly set to make a shock exit when he trailed 2-4 in the fourth.

Despite the deficit, Djokovic refused to surrender breaking back to level at 4-4 before he locked in at the end of the set to force a decider in front of a raucous crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier. In trademark Djokovic style, the top seed then found his best level in the fifth set. He recovered from squandering a break advantage and a fall at 2-1 to triumph after four hours and 39 minutes. Djokovic’s 370th major win moves him to first for the most victories at Grand Slam level.

Djokovic has reached the quarterfinals at the French Open for the 15th consecutive time. The Serbian, a three-time winner at the clay-court major, will next play Casper Ruud or Taylor Fritz.

Djokovic is chasing a record-extending 25th major and must reach the final just to have a chance of remaining No. 1 in the ATP Rankings after the tournament. Second seed Jannik Sinner is guaranteed to become the 29th player in history (since 1973) to rise to No. 1 if he reaches the title match.

–IANS