Close to a marathon game. Serbian Novak Djokovic narrowly avoided a marathon match by beating Alejandro Davidovich on Friday in the third round of Roland-Garros. Earlier, the surprise came from Lorenzo Sonego's victory over Andrey Rublev. In the women's draw, Aryna Sabalenka (2nd in the world) had a quiet day on the court, where she dismissed the Russian Kamilla Rakhimova (82nd) 6-2, 6-2, but tense outside.
The Belarusian has indeed obtained not to participate in the post-victory press conference, however compulsory, explaining that she had "not felt safe" during her last conference on Wednesday in the face of a salvo of questions deemed aggressive, related to his nationality and the war in Ukraine.
"For months I've been answering these questions at every tournament and I've been very clear about my feelings and my opinions (...) But on Wednesday I didn't feel safe," she explained. to a pool of journalists who had access to her. Exempted on Friday, she will therefore not receive a fine. But nothing says that it will be the same in the event of victory in 8th Sunday against the American Sloane Stephens (30th).
Among the men, Djokovic (3rd) won in three sets but he feared being taken on by Davidovich (34th) in a five-hour match. He finally got away with it in 3:30 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2. "I knew it was going to be a very difficult match, very physical (...) Three hours for the first two sets, maybe it was a bit too much. I told myself that if I lost the second, we would probably play five hours, "commented the Serb, in search of 36 years of the record of 23 Grand Slam titles for men.
On several occasions, he made gestures suggesting that he felt discomfort in his left thigh. He also got a massage at the end of the second set. Still, he didn't seem particularly affected in the game. "I don't want to talk about those things that don't stop me from playing. These are circumstances that you have to accept, manage as a professional athlete. Sometimes you need the physio during the match, sometimes you need pills, sometimes divine help...", simply commented the Djoker.
He therefore took a step closer to the long-awaited shock in the semi-finals against Carlos Alcaraz, the other big favorite of the tournament in the absence of Rafael Nadal.
On the contrary, the world No.1 Alcaraz made short work of Canadian Denis Shapovalov (32nd) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in just over two hours. With the exception of a less good shot at the start of the second set, in which he was trailing 4 games to 1, the 20-year-old Spaniard imposed his law and did not let the Canadian left-hander breathe. "I knew I would have my chances to come back in the second set and I took them," he said.
Finalist in 2021, Stefanos Tsitsipas also qualified quietly by dismissing the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman (95th) 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. The Greek will face the unexpected Austrian Sebastian Ofner (118th and from qualifying) for a place in the quarters.
The surprise of the day therefore came earlier, from the defeat of Rublev (7th), especially as he seemed to be heading for an early victory when he led 7-5, 6-0. But the Russian slugger, recent winner of the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, got stuck and the Italian's confidence gradually rebounded with the victory of the third set and a duel at loggerheads in the fourth. . On his way, the Italian gave his opponent little hope in the fifth, to win 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in 3h42.
Rublev is the third heavyweight to leave the Paris tournament prematurely after Daniil Medvedev (2nd), released in the first round, and Jannik Sinner (8th), beaten on Thursday. His defeat deprives the tournament of an eighth Russian-Russian. Karen Khachanov (11th) indeed won against the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (108th), not without having to fight 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).
Another match attracted attention on Friday for women, against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which has disturbed the cohabitation between players on the circuit for many months. Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (192nd) dominated Russian Anna Blinkova (56th) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Victorious, Svitolina approached the net where her opponent was waiting, but instead of shaking his hand, she gave him a thumbs up. The Ukrainian will find in the round of 16 another Russian, Daria Kasatkina (9th) who swept the American Peyton Stearns (69th) 6-0, 6-1 in less than an hour.
