Flawless Novak Djokovic unstoppable in French Open

Cruises into record 12th successive 4th round of French Open; Kenin advances

Paris: Novak Djokovic has reached the fourth round of the French Open for a record 12th consecutive year.

The No. 1-seeded Djokovic has not been pushed yet in any match — or any set, really — in Week 1 at Roland Garros. His latest victory was by a 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 score against 93rd-ranked Ricardas Berankis.

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Djokovic’s streak of appearances in the round of 16 in Paris is now one longer than the previous professional era mark for men of 11. That was shared by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who both got that far every year from 2005-15. Djokovic is seeking a second French Open championship and 19th Grand Slam title overall. Nadal and Federer share that record with 20.

Against Berankis, Djokovic never faced a break point and compiled 30 winners to just 18 unforced errors. Djokovic has dropped a total of 23 games across three matches so far. He will meet 19-year-old Lorenzo Musetti of Italy for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Sofia Kenin advanced to the fourth round for the third consecutive year by winning a seesaw match on Saturday against Jessica Pegula, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a battle of Americans.
Kenin is the highest-seeded player left in the women’s draw at No. 4, and she has shaken a slump with her return to Roland Garros, where she was the runner-up to Iga Swiatek in October.

The No. 28-seeded Pegula rallied from a 0-3 start to win the first set, but Kenin began stepping into the court to take charge of rallies, especially with a backhand that produced two dozen winners. She hit 48 winners to 18 for Pegula. “I’m proud of myself for just fighting out there and battling out,” Kenin said.

Kenin had 10 double faults and was broken five times but held in her final four service games to close out the win. The 2020 Australian Open champion, who was sidelined by an appendectomy in February, improved to 10-8 this year.

American Sloane Stephens, who is ranked 59th and is out of the top 50 for the first time since 2017, advanced by beating 18th-seeded Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-5. Stephens, the runner-up in 2018, will next face Barbora Krejcikova, who upset No. 5 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-2.

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