PARIS: Novak Djokovic battled into the French Open fourth round for a 14th consecutive year on Friday, after women’s third seed Jessica Pegula and seventh-ranked Andrey Rublev were dumped out of the tournament.

Djokovic has made headlines for his comments about Kosovo this week but his on-court progress has been relatively serene, reaching the second week without dropping a set.

The Serb star was made to work hard by Spanish 29th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who served for the first set and missed a set point in the second, but won 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“A win is a win, maybe a bit too much — the first two sets,” said Djokovic. “I thought if I lost the second set we would play five hours today, but I’m proud of the performance.”

Two-time champion Djokovic, who has also made the French Open quarter-finals in each of the past 13 years, faces either Polish 13th seed Hubert Hurkacz or Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas in the last 16.

The 36-year-old is hoping to break out of his tie with injured rival Rafael Nadal at the top of the men’s all-time list of major winners at Roland Garros. He is just one title behind Serena Williams’ mark of 23 Slams and two adrift of Margaret Court’s overall record.

Italian Lorenzo Sonego battled back from two sets down to knock out Rublev and reach the last 16 for the second time.

The world number 48 was two points from defeat during a fourth-set tie-break but prevailed 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 after three hours and 42 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Sonego will face 11th seed Karen Khachanov for a possible quarter-final meeting with Djokovic.

Khachanov moved into the fourth round by stopping wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis. The Russian looked to be in trouble midway through his match against Kokkinakis but stepped up his game in the crunch moments to get past his Aus­tralian opponent 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Pegula had never beaten Elise Mertens in two previous meetings and the American’s hopes of snapping that run to remain on track for a maiden Grand Slam trophy ended in disappointment following a 6-1, 6-3 defeat.

The 29-year-old Pegula particularly struggled against the versatility of Mertens, who ran her opponent ragged with some delightful sliced forehands, drops, lobs and deep shots to breeze through the match in 82 minutes.

Pegula, who only has two WTA Tour titles to her name, has still never passed the quarters of a Grand Slam.

“I’m very happy to win in two sets. She’s a very good player,” said Mertens.

The former Australian Open semi-finalist will next face 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuc­henkova. Pavlyu­chenkova got off to a slow start before finishing strong to down 24th seed Anastasia Potapova 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Aryna Sabalenka swatted aside Kamilla Rakhimova to remind her rivals of her credentials but refused to do an official post-match press conference after powering into the last 16 for the first time.

World number two Sabalenka beat Russian Rakhimova 6-2, 6-2 to set up a fourth-round clash with American Sloane Stephens or Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in her quest for a second Grand Slam title.

The Belarusian claimed she “did not feel safe” when asked to condemn her country’s support of Russia’s war in Ukraine during a press conference earlier this week. “I should be able to feel safe when I do interviews with the journalists after my matches,” she told selected media.

Russian Daria Kasatkina, a semi-finalist last year, raced into the second week by thrashing American Peyton Stearns 6-0, 6-1 in under an hour.

The ninth seed will next face Elina Svitolina on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.

Ukrainian Svitolina reached the fourth round on her first Grand Slam appearance since the 2022 Australian Open with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Anna Blinkova.

She is now on an eight-match winning run after also clinching the title in Strasbourg last week, beating Russian Blinkova in the final.

In Thursday’s late action, Germany’s Alexander Zverev made a winning return to Court Philippe Chatrier a year after suffering an ankle ligament injury in the semi-final against Rafael Nadal.

Zverev, who was taken off court in a wheelchair in that 2022 tie, buried the misery with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win over Alex Molcan to reach the third round.

Chinese Zhang Zhizhen beat Argentine qualifier Thiago Agustin Tirante 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-4 to become the first man from his country since 1937 to reach the last 32 while American 12th seed Frances Tiafoe beat Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.

Tunisian world number seven Ons Jabeur overcame Oceane Dodin with a 6-2, 6-3 victory to ensure that no French player will make the third round of the women’s competition for the third time in five years. Coco Gauff subdued Julia Grabher of Austria 6-2, 6-3.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2023