Novak Djokovic produces dominant display to march into French Open quarter-finals with win over Juan Pablo Varillas
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ByEurosport
Updated 04/06/2023 at 17:32 GMT
A record 23rd Grand Slam title is just a three matches away for Novak Djokovic after the Serb blasted his way through his fourth-round match against Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3 6-2 6-2. Djokovic needed less than two hours to see off his opponent who was no match for a man on a mission to make tennis history. Stream the 2023 French Open live on discovery+
Djokovic v Varillas - French Open highlights
Novak Djokovic is now just three wins away from a historic 23rd Grand Slam title after beating Juan Pablo Varillas in straight sets to reach the French Open quarter-finals.
The former world No. 1 is not just looking to return to the top of the rankings, but in the absence of Rafael Nadal he will be hoping to hunt down the Spaniard’s record of Grand Slam victories.
The Serbian defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round in straight sets, and at 36, Djokovic may have been looking for another less exacting physical match-up.
His Peruvian opponent is ranked just within the top 100 and was the clear underdog, but wins against Roberto Bautista Agut and Hubert Hurkacz - both over the course of five sets - should have given him confidence that he could potentially trouble his opponent.
The 27-year-old could point to a losing final against Lucas Van Assche at the San Remo Challenger in March as evidence of improvement in his game, and he is something of a late bloomer after making his debut at Roland-Garros last year.
Djokovic cruised to the first set 6-3, breaking the Peruvian No. 1 twice on his way.
Despite being broken early in the second, Varillas held his serve without dropping a point to stay in the second set at 2-1.
However, Djokovic was able to manoeuvre his opponent across the court to open up spots for easy points throughout, and while Varillas added a second game to his tally in the second set, Djokovic was largely untroubled as he used his dominant serve to earn two set points to close out at 6-2, giving away just four unforced errors.
As he tried to race to an even larger margin of victory in the third set, Djokovic executed a drop-shot from deep that demonstrated the yawning gulf in quality between the pair, leaving Varillas to serve just to stay in the match. While he obliged, he could not resist Djokovic any more than that.
Speaking after the match, Djokovic praised both his opponent and crowd, who had booed him earlier in the tournament.
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'Extremely comfortable' - Djokovic wins second set in style
He said: “It was a great atmosphere; I really felt all the love today. Today was the first time I’ve played him. The last couple of years he’s made a lot of progress, and is a specialist on this surface. I had to try and dictate the points as he’s very consistent. I’m very happy; that was the highest level I’ve played yet.”
Victory saw Djokovic through to a record 17th Roland-Garros quarter-final, one more than Nadal, and he was pleased with the achievement.
“Obviously, I’m proud of the record," he said. "I’m not that young anymore. Like any other player, it’s not the same for me as it was 10 years ago. I have to be a bit more careful these days [managing my body]. But I am happy and motivated.
“It’s a great pleasure to have my kids here. They’ll be here tomorrow as well and then they’ll head back to Serbia for school as that’s more important [than watching me at Roland-Garros]. My son loves tennis, and I am a different person when I’m with him. I’m very positive, and I feel a lot of love and inspiration to play well when I’m with him. Maybe one day he can also play here.”
Djokovic will take on Karen Khachanov following his four-set win over Lorenzo Sonego.
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