French Open 2020 - Novak Djokovic keeps cool to win rain-affected match against Daniel Elahi Galan
Updated 03/10/2020 at 19:31 GMT
World number one Novak Djokovic continued his quest for the French Open title with a 6-0 6-3 6-2 win over Daniel Elahi Galan in their third-round match. It was a frustrating and interrupted clash on Philippe Chatrier, but the world number one came through the challenge to progress in Paris.
Novak Djokovic kept his cool in a rain-affected third-round match to beat Daniel Elahi Galan and progress at the 2020 French Open.
The Serb was left frustrated at times as the rain poured in on the red clay before the roof - newly installed for this year's edition at Roland Garros - eventually closed.
But in what was a controversial scene, one side of the court was wet while another was dry as the roof slowly closed in Paris and Djokovic even helped the mop-up operation.
Djokovic was surprised the roof had not been closed earlier.
"I saw the forecast and it didn't look good at all," he said. "If you have a roof why not use it. I thought we lost quite a bit of time."
Having waited out the delay, the world number one continued his serene progress through to the fourth round with his 153rd-ranked opponent never able to really threaten him.
In the end it took two hours and eight minutes for Djokovic to wrap up the win, but not before some considerable drama around the closing of the roof.
Galan, a lucky loser from qualifying, at one point slipped badly on the wet clay while Djokovic was playing on the dryer side from which the roof closes, and the top seed even appealed for play to be halted on his opponent's behalf.
The Serb helped ensure that play did not continue for Galan, but then continued to ram home his advantage after the restart to ensure the convincing victory in straight sets.
The 33-year-old has reached the last 16 without the loss of a single set, but he now faces a tougher challenge in the shape of Russia's Karen Khachanov.
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