Novak Djokovic beats Tallon Griekspoor in thrilling three-set encounter to reach Paris Masters last eight
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Updated 03/11/2023 at 00:02 GMT
Novak Djokovic looked out of sorts during his Paris Masters round-of-16 encounter against Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, but still managed to win the three-set thriller. Griekspoor took the first set, but after calling a doctor on court in the break, Djokovic pulled off a dramatic comeback and booked a place in the tournament's quarter-finals.
Djokovic battles back to beat Griekspoor at Paris Masters
Novak Djokovic overcame a shock loss of the first set against Tallon Griekspoor to book a place in the last eight at the Paris Masters, winning 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4.
The world No. 1 looked out of sorts throughout the encounter, which dragged on for two hours and 39 minutes as Griekspoor battled to pull off the upset of the tournament so far.
The Dutch star won the first set 6-4, prompting Djokovic to call a doctor on court before the start of the second set. After he was given something to swallow to help with whatever the issue was, his performance was markedly better.
The second set went to a tie-break which was comfortably won by Djokovic, who was now gaining momentum. Griekspoor was unable to keep up in the third set, with his Serbian opponent taking a crucial break in the ninth game to gain control of the match and complete the comeback.
Djokovic, who is playing at his first tournament since triumphing at the US Open in September, will face Holger Rune in the quarter-finals. The Danish youngster eased past Germany's Daniel Altmaier 6-3 6-3 to continue his impressive streak at the tournament. Rune has won two of his three previous encounters against Djokovic, including last year's Paris Masters final.
Earlier in the day, Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the last eight with a straight-sets victory over Alexander Zverev.
Victory over the German also secured Tsitsipas a place in the ATP Finals in Turin later in November.
The match started ominously for 10th seed Zverev as he was broken in his opening service game between two holds from Tsitsipas, who led 3-0.
The match started ominously for 10th seed Zverev as he was broken in his opening service game between two holds from Tsitsipas, who led 3-0.
Zverev then had to save two break points from 15-40 to stop the set getting away from him, recovering well to hold and get on the board.
The momentum started to move when Tsitsipas called a medical time-out after awkwardly jarring his right leg during a point, a moment that left him hopping in pain, but the seventh seed was able to continue.
It stayed on serve to 5-3, when the Greek had the chance to serve out the set, but he squandered two set points before putting a backhand in the net to hand Zverev the break back.
The set went to a tie-break as the clock ticked past an hour, Tsitsipas taking a mini-break into the first change of ends. A shanked backhand from Zverev put Tsitsipas within two points of the set, and a couple of big serves got him across the line after 72 minutes on court.
Proceedings were more straightforward for Tsitsipas after the first set. He held off Zverev to win the second set 6-4, wrapping up the encounter in one hour and 59 minutes.
It was Tsitsipas' 50th victory on the ATP Tour this season, and one which booked him a place at the season-ending Finals in Turin.
"It’s awesome," Tsitsipas said. "What a great relief to finally get that spot.
"I’ve been working extremely hard the whole year to be in Turin, and it’s a moment of relief that I’ve made it to one of my favourite events of the year.
"I get the opportunity to play in front of my Italian fans, but also get some Greek people in."
Tsitsipas' next opponent at the Paris Masters will be Russia's Karen Khachanov, who has defeated Max Purcell, Laslo Djere and Roman Safiullin at the tournament so far.
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev moved into the last eight with a 6-3 6-3 win over Botic van de Zandschulp to register his 20th Masters 1000 win of the season.
The Monte-Carlo champion is one of just four players to hit the landmark in 2023, alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev.
Rublev hit 18 winners and kept his unforced error count to an impressive four in a dominant 65-minute victory.
The Russian will face 13th seed Alex de Minaur next, after he was given a bye through the last 16 following Jannik Sinner’s decision to withdraw amid scheduling controversy.
Grigor Dimitrov continued his fine week by beating Alexander Bublik 6-2 6-2 to follow up his eye-catching win over third seed Medvedev in the previous round.
The Bulgarian will face Hubert Hurkacz following his 6-4 6-3 win over Francisco Cerundolo.
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