Francisco Cerúndolo (27th ATP) probably played the best match of his life. He put Novak Djokovic, number one on the planet, against a rock and a hard place, but it was not enough for him to make the breakthrough and advance to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros.
However, the effort made by the albiceleste was not in vain, as the Serbian himself, as soon as the battle was over, took the microphone in front of the crowd that staged the game in the stadium. Philippe Chatrierevaluating the role played by his rival during the four hours and 40 minutes of battle.
“Francisco deserved to win the game, he was the best for much of the game. I feel sorry for him, he is a great guy and player, I wish him the best. Today he showed great character on the field. I am very proud of my return in the match, the energy of the fans helped me, I really needed it,” emphasized the man with all the records in dialogue with ESPN Tennis.
The owner of 98 ATP titles, who He became the player with the most wins in Grand Slam tournamentsdisplacing the mark of the Swiss Roger Federer, emerged unscathed from two consecutive matches to five sets and will go in search of his first trophy of the season.
“There are nine hours in the last two gamesbut at least today I’m going to sleep at a normal time,” said the stainless “Nole”, 37 years old, who needed 4 hours and 29 minutes to take Italian Lorenzo Musetti (30th) off the map.
It should be noted that Djokovic He suffered discomfort in his right knee at the beginning of the second set, which is why he exploded with anger at the supervisor over the state of the court: “Something happened with my knee, I had to take several anti-inflammatories. From the fourth set it started to work and I was able to finish the match without pain. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when I get cold.”
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