Sunday, May 29, 2011
PARIS — His 43rd consecutive victory complete, Novak Djokovic ripped off his white baseball cap, looked up at his parents, coach and supporters in the stands, then let out a yell.
It was the sort of visceral reaction one might expect after a taut, tense contest, not the rather routine 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 result the second-seeded Djokovic assembled Sunday against No. 13 Richard Gasquet in the fourth round of the French Open.
"I didn't expect it to be easy, that's for sure," Djokovic said. "Maybe the scoreline says differently, but I really … had to work."
Each match has extra meaning for Djokovic, whose overall winning streak is the third longest since the Open era began in 1968 (Guillermo Vilas had 46, Ivan Lendl had 44). At 41-0 in 2011, he's one shy of John McEnroe's opening 42-0 in 1984.
"As soon as he hits a return, he grabs you by the throat," said Gasquet, who was supported by a partisan crowd. "To beat him, you need to produce the perfect match and not make any mistakes."
Roger Federer's opponents know that feeling, too. The 16-time major champion moved a step closer to a semifinal showdown against Djokovic by overwhelming No. 14 Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2, 7-5, reaching the quarterfinals at a record 28th Grand Slam event in a row.
Federer next faces No. 7 David Ferrer or No. 9 Gael Monfils, whose match was suspended in the fourth set because of darkness. Djokovic meets 49th-ranked Fabio Fognini, who set aside a left thigh injury that left him nearly immobile and erased five match points to beat Albert Montanes 11-9 in the fifth set.
Chaos continues in the women's draw. No. 3 Vera Zvonareva, runnerup at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year, lost the last five games and was defeated 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-2 by No. 14 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Zvonareva's exit followed those of No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the third round, and No. 2 Kim Clijsters in the second, making this the first French Open, and only third Grand Slam tournament, in the Open era with none of the top three seeded women in the quarterfinals.
The past two French Open champions remain: 2010's Francesca Schiavone got past 10th-seeded Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; and 2009's Svetlanta Kuznetsova was a 6-7 (7-3), 6-3, 6-2 winner over No. 28 Daniela Hantuchova.
"We will see," said the fifth-seeded Schiavone, who reprised her celebratory routine from a year ago and kissed the clay after winning. "For sure it's interesting, but in (women's) tennis now, it's really, really open."