PARIS—Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia overcame a knee injury and a tough fall to rally past No. 23 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6–1, 5–7, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3 and reach the French Open quarterfinals on Monday.
With the victory, Djokovic set the record for most Grand Slam wins at 370, surpassing Roger Federer. Djokovic also has the most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances with 59, a mark he shared with Federer.
Following a four-hour, 29-minute win in his last match, it took Djokovic four hours and 39 minutes to dispose of Cerundolo.
“Three or four times, I was points away from losing this match, and thank you to my opponent,” Djokovic said. “He deserves so much applause. That’s for sure. I’m not sure how I won this match.”
In the quarters, Djokovic will face No. 7 seed Casper Ruud of Norway. Ruud defeated No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz 7–6 (6), 3–6, 6–4, 6–2, eliminating the last remaining American from the men’s draw.
After easily winning the first set, Djokovic dealt with a knee issue during the third game of the second set. He was shaking his leg and was given medical attention while laying on a towel on the court. The 37-year-old continued to shake his knee out during the next game and was given a brief massage during the next changeover.
“I started feeling the pain [in the second set], and asked for the physio treatment and the medical timeout and tried to take care of it,” Djokovic said. “It did disrupt me definitely in play. For two sets, two sets and a half, I didn’t want to stay in the rally too long. Every time he would make sudden drop shots or change directions, I would not be feeling comfortable to do the running.
“At one point I didn’t know, to be honest, whether I should continue or not with what’s happening.”
Cerundolo went on to win that set and the next, and was serving up 4–3 in the fourth when Djokovic broke the Argentinian’s serve and eventually took a 5–4 lead. Cerundolo evened it at 5–5 and had a break-point opportunity to go up 6–5, but Djokovic won the next three points and broke his opponent again to win the set.
In the decisive fifth set, Djokovic tumbled during the fourth game and was heard yelling at officials.
“Great job by you guys,” he said. “You know better than us. It’s not slippery at all, not dangerous at all! Well done, supervisor and everyone. Grounds staff, well done.”
Djokovic broke Cerundolo’s serve twice in the final set en route to the victory. For the match, Djokovic saved 15 of 19 break points, compared to 5 of 11 for Cerundolo, who had more winners (68 to 52) and fewer unforced errors (45 to 46).
Ruud, meanwhile, rallied from a 4–0 hole in his first-set tiebreaker against Fritz, tying it at 5–5 and 6–6 before pulling out two more points for the win. He went on to save eight of 12 break points and won despite Fritz’s advantages in aces (19–11) and total winners (72–56).
Ruud is aiming to reach the French Open final for the third consecutive year after losing there in 2022 and 2023. Fritz has never reached the quarters at Roland Garros.
In other fourth-round action, No. 11 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia upset fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia 4–6, 6–2, 6–1, 6–3 to advance to the quarterfinals. De Minaur, who won 76 percent of his first-serve points and saved eight of 10 break points, will face the winner of No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany and No. 13 seed Holger Rune of Denmark. De Minaur also notched 51 winners to 27 for Medvedev.
