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Khachanov battles on

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has faced few problems at Roland Garros, cruising into the third round at the clay-court Grand Slam on Thursday for the 15th consecutive year.

Djokovic beat Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 23 minutes to improve his 2020 record to 33-1. The Serbian star, who recently won the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, has won 16 of 17 sets on clay this season.

This is Djokovic's 70th Roland Garros win, moving him into a tie for second-most all-time alongside Roger Federer. Only Rafael Nadal (95) has more.

"Grand Slams are obviously the biggest tournaments in our sport. Historically, they count the most. So of course winning that many matches [at] each Slam is a great achievement," Djokovic said. "Of course it makes me proud, makes me happy."

Most Wins At Roland Garros (all-time)

Player Roland Garros Record
Rafael Nadal 95-2
Novak Djokovic 70-14
Roger Federer 70-17
Guillermo Vilas 58-17
Ivan Lendl 53-12
Jaroslav Drobny 53-14
In 46 of his past 47 Grand Slam appearances, Djokovic has made at least the third round. The only exception came at the 2017 Australian Open, when he lost against Denis Istomin in five sets.

Djokovic set the tone by breaking Berankis' serve in his first return game of the match and he never looked back. The World No. 66 was unable to put the top seed into discomfort and between the second and third sets, he received treatment on his back.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion was dominant in short rallies, winning more than 67 per cent of rallies that lasted between zero and four shots. Djokovic only lost two first-serve points (36/38) in the match and went unbroken against the former junior World No. 1. The 2016 Roland Garros winner has dropped just 10 games in his first two matches combined.

Djokovic will next play Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan, who ousted two-time major quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 48 minutes.

"I don't know much about him, to be honest. I have never seen him play, so I'll have to obviously look at his matches, the videos, and try to prepare myself with my team," Djokovic said. "It's always dangerous facing opponents you never faced before."

Since losing against Henri Laaksonen in the final round of qualifying, Galan has found his best form. The 24-year-old had never previously won a main draw match at a Slam. Last year, he reached the semi-finals at Houston's clay-court ATP 250.

Khachanov
Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Karen Khachanov needed to work hard on Thursday to maintain his record of always reaching the Roland Garros third round.

The Russian No. 15 seed dug deep to beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 7-6(2) in three hours and 35 minutes. He won 67 of 81 first-serve points (83 per cent) and hit 65 winners.

Khachanov needed to save sets points at 5-6, 30/40 in the third set, then at 6/7 in the tie-break, and the 24-year-old also recovered from 2-5 and saved three set points at 4-5 in the fourth set.

The World No. 16 will next challenge No. 20 seed Cristian Garin, who found a way past lucky loser Marc Polmans 6-7(5), 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-4 in three hours and 41 minutes.

Novak Djokovic moved clear of Roger Federer with his 71st Roland Garros victory on Saturday, claiming sole ownership of second place on the wins leaderboard at the clay-court Grand Slam championship.

The World No. 1 cruised past lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 to improve to 71-14 at Stade Roland Garros. Djokovic broke serve on seven occasions and saved all five break points he faced en route to victory.

Most Roland Garros Men's Singles Wins

Rank Player Roland Garros Win-Loss
1 Rafael Nadal 96-2
2 Novak Djokovic 71-14
3 Roger Federer 70-17
4 Guillermo Vilas 58-17
5 Ivan Lendl 53-12
5 Jaroslav Drobny 53-14
Djokovic showed great sportsmanship throughout the third-round encounter. With rain falling heavily on Galan’s side of the court as the new Court Philippe-Chatrier roof was closing, the Colombian slipped over. Djokovic responded by calling a halt to the match in the fourth game of the second set until conditions were equal for both players.

The 33-year-old even helped the ground staff tasked with adding extra clay to Galan’s end of the court. Djokovic grabbed a brush and helped smooth the surface around the World No. 153’s baseline.

<a href='/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'>Novak Djokovic</a> helps ground staff smooth the clay surface on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

With his 34th win from 35 matches this year, Djokovic equals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s Open Era record of 11 consecutive fourth-round appearances in Paris. Nadal and Federer reached the Round of 16 at this event each year from 2005 to 2015.

Most Consecutive Roland Garros Round Of 16 Appearances (Open Era)

Player Length Of Streak Years
Novak Djokovic 11 2010-2020
Roger Federer 11 2005-2015
Rafael Nadal 11 2005-2015
Ivan Lendl 9 1981-1989
Yannick Noah 9 1980-1988
Guillermo Vilas 9 1975-1983
Djokovic has showcased his best form to reach the second week in Paris. Through his opening three matches, the five-time year-end World No. 1 has dropped just 15 games. Djokovic is riding an eight-match winning streak, following his record 36th ATP Masters 1000 title run at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome last month.

”If you impose yourself from the very beginning on the court, which I have in those first three matches here, then it makes it hard for them to really believe that they can come back and make a turnaround in the match,” said Djokovic.

The Serbian will face Karen Khachanov for a place in the semi-finals. Djokovic owns a 3-1 ATP Head2Head record against the World No. 16, but Khachanov emerged victorious in the pair’s previous encounter in Paris. At the 2018 Rolex Paris Masters, Khachanov stunned Djokovic in the championship match to earn the biggest title of his career.

Djokovic took no time to find his best level against Galan on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The 2016 champion regularly used the drop shot to mix up play — as he has throughout this European clay swing — and dictated rallies with his forehand to win the opening eight games of the match.

Serving at 0-6, 0-2, Galan ripped a cross-court forehand winner to earn his first game of the match. The winning shot was met with applause from the limited number of fans sat courtside, which brought a smile to Galan’s face as he walked to his chair. After the brief rain delay, Djokovic maintained his advantage and broke serve once more at 5-3 with a forehand winner up the line.

After saving two break points to start the third set, Djokovic claimed his sixth service break en route to a 3-0 lead. The Belgrade native closed the match with another break, playing with aggression on his backhand side. Galan committed a cross-court forehand error to end the third-round meeting after two hours and eight minutes.

“You watch videos and you watch him on TV, and… it seems like he's not playing that fast, like he's playing heavy, with a lot of spin. But today it was like a rocket, every forehand,” said Galan.

“I was not able to even react. I don't know. Maybe I was not moving… I felt like he was a rocket every time he was hitting his forehand.”

<a href='/en/players/karen-khachanov/ke29/overview'>Karen Khachanov</a> has reached the Round of 16 in each of his four visits to <a href='/en/tournaments/roland-garros/520/overview'>Roland Garros</a>.

Earlier in the day on Court 14, Khachanov ended Cristian Garin’s run with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the Round of 16 in Paris for the fourth straight year.

The 16th seed, who owns a 13-3 record at Roland Garros, landed 33 winners and broke serve on eight occasions to hand Garin only his fourth loss in 19 tour-level matches on clay this year. Khachanov will be attempting to equal his best Grand Slam result when he meets Djokovic on Monday. Last year, the 24-year-old reached his first quarter-final at a major championship at this event with a fourth-round victory against Juan Martin del Potro.

“[Against Novak, I will] try to be steady, to try to maintain the level that we will play [for the] most time possible… keep pushing to try to break the guy if something is going wrong on [my] serve,” said Khachanov.

“You don't have to be surprised if you lose a few games even if you serve hard or not. A lot of balls are coming back, especially in the current situation. I think the most important thing for me [is] to stay steady, to believe in myself, to believe in the game that I'm playing. At the end of the day, to enjoy it. looking forward to a good match.”

Garin was attempting to become the first Chilean man to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam since Fernando Gonzalez’s run to the Round of 16 at the 2010 Australian Open. With a 15-4 clay record in 2020, Garin is in second place on the tour-level clay wins leaderboard this year. Only Buenos Aires champion Casper Ruud owns more victories on the surface this season (17).

World No. 1 will next play 17th seed Carreno Busta or Altmaier
Twelve-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal sent a message to the field on Sunday with a dominant fourth-round victory in which he only lost four games. Top seed Novak Djokovic replied on Monday with an impressive performance of his own.

Djokovic beat 15th seed Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals on the Parisian clay for the 11th consecutive year. It is the second straight edition in which Djokovic has reached the last eight without dropping a set. The Serbian has accomplished that feat three times in his 16 appearances.

Djokovic, who is now 35-1 in 2020, was the far more opportunistic player, which proved critical on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The 2016 champion converted five of his 14 break points, while Khachanov only took advantage of two of his nine opportunities. Djokovic used that edge to triumph after two hours and 23 minutes.

Infosys Rally Analysis

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The 33-year-old knew Khachanov, who beat him in the 2018 Rolex Paris Masters final, was a dangerous opponent. Djokovic didn’t allow the Russian to get into an aggressive rhythm, playing aggressively throughout to extend his ATP Head2Head series lead to 4-1.

Throughout the tournament, Djokovic has used his drop shot in the heavy conditions, even admitting after his first-round match that he was perhaps using it too often. But on Monday, the 17-time Grand Slam champion took it to Khachanov. When the 15th seed has time to set up and swing, he is as powerful as anyone on the ATP Tour. So Djokovic went after his own shots to stop that from happening, hitting 44 winners to 31 for the Russian. He only made 28 unforced errors.

The top seed’s only hiccup — a slight one at that — came in the third set. Djokovic used a drop shot to earn an early break, but Khachanov never stopped battling. The Russian got back on serve when Djokovic pushed a backhand down the line into the net, and at 2-2 he got two opportunities to lead by a break. The drop shot proved key again for the Serbian, who never looked back.

Djokovic broke in the next game when Khachanov misfired on a big forehand and rolled from there. The Serbian hit a big forehand to clinch his victory.

The World No. 1 will next play 17th seed Pablo Carreno Busta or German qualifier Daniel Altmaier for a spot in the semi-finals.