PARIS, May 29: Defending champion Novak Djokovic has reached his record 16th career Roland Garros quarterfinal and could find a familiar foe across the net next: Rafael Nadal.
The No. 1-ranked Djokovic quickly recovered from only the slightest of blips at the start of the second set Sunday and went on to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 victory over 15th-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina at Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Djokovic has won all 12 sets he’s played so far in this year’s tournament and dropped a total of merely 30 games across the four matches.
He fell behind 3-0 in the second set but grabbed seven games in a row to take that set and a 1-0 lead in the third.
Djokovic has made the quarterfinals in Paris 13 years in a row. He won the title in 2016 and last year, part of his collection of 20 Grand Slam trophies.
Only one man has won more – Nadal, with 21.
US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez moved into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Amanda Anisimova.
The 19-year-old Fernandez had more than twice as many winners, 35, as unforced errors, 17, and continued her run of impressive returning at the tournament.
She broke Anisimova six times and now has won 23 of her opponents’ service games through four matches.
Fernandez, the youngest player to win a WTA title in 2022, is seeded 17th at the French Open and will play Martina Trevisan of Italy next.
The 27th-seeded Anisimova was a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2019 at age 17. The American eliminated four-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the first round this year.
Martina Trevisan of Italy reached the quarterfinals for the second time in three appearances here.
The 59th-ranked Trevisan grabbed the last four games and beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6 (10), 7-5 on Sunday.
This time, Trevisan will meet Leylah Fernandez or Amanda Anisimova for a semi-final berth.
Five American women made it to the round of 16 at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2003. (AP)
