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French Open: 'I fancy my chances' - Novak Djokovic 'ready' for Rafael Nadal or Felix Auger-Aliassime in Paris

Dan Quarrell

Updated 29/05/2022 at 16:30 GMT

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic had to be at his fiery best on Sunday afternoon against 15th seed Diego Schwartzman as he had the crowd on Court Suzanne-Lenglen rooting against him too at times. He responded in classic fashion and won through to the quarter-finals. He has now said that he is "ready" for whoever he faces and that he fancies his chances.

'Absolute perfection' - Djokovic cups ear in celebration to crowd after amazing shot

Novak Djokovic has made it very clear that he is "ready" for either Rafael Nadal or Felix Auger-Aliassime in the French Open quarter-finals.
Novak Djokovic found the perfect way to respond to the booing fans at the French Open as he stormed past 13th seed Diego Schwartzman in fine fashion on Sunday afternoon.
The world No. 1 was booed as he walked out before the match had even started on Court Suzanne-Lenglen - something Eurosport's Alex Corretja and Alize Lim took exception to courtside at the time.
He proceeded to show his typical battling qualities and stunning play as he clinched victory in straight sets, and he spoke about his chances in the last eight in his press conference. He is not short on confidence.
“I feel great," he said when addressing the top of who his quarter-final could be and what would be the challenge of facing either Nadal or Auger-Aliassime.
“Felix has got one of the hardest work ethics on the tour. He’s very disciplined about his everyday chores. He’s a very nice guy, he’s a hard worker who looks to improve all the time, so it seems from [his] results that he is going in the right direction.
"Clay probably isn’t his preferred surface, but he’s improved a lot. We played in Rome 10 days ago… a very close two sets. I was actually quite surprised by his service accuracy. I knew that he has a very good serve, but he’s hitting his spots very well, and he uses that as a great weapon and he’s a great athlete, [who] moves around very well. He’s comfortable hitting through the ball flat, and also [using] spin. He can play equally well behind [the baseline], and also inside. He’s quite a complete player.
“Nadal, obviously, [is an] equally-anticipated match, [especially] when the draw came out. I’m glad that I didn’t spend too much time on court myself up to the quarters knowing that playing him at Roland-Garros is always a physical battle, along with everything else that happens.
"It’s a huge challenge; probably the biggest you can have here at Roland-Garros. I’m ready for both of these guys; I like the way I’ve been feeling [and] hitting the ball. I’ll focus on what I need to do and I like my chances against both of them.”
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'I don't like that!' - Corretja reacts as Djokovic gets booed and cheered as he enters court

Eurosport expert Mats Wilander has explained the key differences between playing matches at Roland-Garros during the day compared to at night, and Djokovic gave his thoughts on that situation knowing that Nadal does not enjoy playing on clay in the evening.
"Grand Slams have always been a priority for the scheduling," he said. "I always want to perform [at] my best this tournament, so I’m really glad I’ve managed to create that kind of consistency over the last few years, and I’m still going strong.
“As top players, we do have requests, but those requests are not always accepted. The tournament director, along with TV broadcasters, [are the] ones who decide, whether they want your match [in the] day or [night], so you just have to adjust to that.
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'Much harder to spin' - Wilander explains differences between day and night conditions

"Obviously, depending on who you play, sometimes it’s favourable to play [in the] night… there’s no standard formula that always works… even though I’ve historically played well under the lights at different Slams, particularly in Australia.
“I was okay playing during the day. Honestly, today I’d rather play during the day than [in the] night at 9pm [when] conditions are different. Today it is colder [and] slower; at night it [would be] even slower, [with] lower bounce. It would be more favourable to my opponent.”
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