Djokovic smashes record as he beats Cerundolo in French Open thriller
Novak Djokovic last night reached the quarter-finals of the French Open, but was pushed all the way in a five-set thriller by Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.
The Serbian looked well on his way after he picked up the first set by six games to one but the next two sets went 7-5 6-3 in favour of his opponent.
Djokovic drew level at 2-2 in the fourth set, winning 7-5, before taking the final set 6-3.
Cerundolo got the Roland Garros crowd on their feet as it looked like the French capital would see a major upset, but Djokovic showed his tenacity and was able to hold on and reach the last eight.
It was his 370th win at a Grand Slam and he reached a record 59th slam quarter-final – 18 of those have come at Roland Garros.
Elsewhere today fifth seed Daniil Medvedev was dismantled in four sets by Australian Alex de Minaur while there were straight sets wins for Elena Rybakina against Elina Svitolina, Aryna Sabalenka over Emma Navarro and Mirra Andreeva against Varvara Gracheva.
Tuesday’s schedule includes a brilliant tie between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Carlos Alcaraz while Grigor Dimitrov faces Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff takes on Ons Jabeur and No1 seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek faces 2023 Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova.
Last 10 French Open finals
| Year | Winner | Loser |
| 2023 | Novak Djokovic | Casper Ruud |
| 2022 | Rafael Nadal | Casper Ruud |
| 2021 | Novak Djokovic | Stefanos Tsitsipas |
| 2020 | Rafael Nadal | Novak Djokovic |
| 2019 | Rafael Nadal | Dominic Thiem |
| 2018 | Rafael Nadal | Dominic Thiem |
| 2017 | Rafael Nadal | Stan Wawrinka |
| 2016 | Novak Djokovic | Andy Murray |
| 2015 | Stan Wawrinka | Novak Djokovic |
| 2014 | Rafael Nadal | Novak Djokovic |