In the final stretch of his strangest clay-court season, which has included a period when he could barely win a match, Novak Djokovic continues to rebuild his confidence at precisely the right time. He brushed aside a resurgent Cameron Norrie with a controlled, efficient performance to return to the French Open quarter-finals.
As is usually the case when he enters a grand slam tournament these days, Djokovic’s performance here has shattered more records. In what will be his 19th quarter-final at Roland Garros, that is the most a male player has reached at a major, surpassing Roger Federer, who reached 18 at Wimbledon. He has now secured 100 singles wins at the French Open, the second man to do so after Rafael Nadal’s 112. At 38, the world No 6 is the oldest French Open quarter‑finalist in 55 years.
“In terms of how I was striking the ball, I think I played solid,” said Djokovic, who will next face Alexander Zverev.
“I can always expect myself to play better. Considering the opponent’s form, as well, and the last‑16 round and the occasion, I think was a very good match. From my side, a very solid performance.”
Although Djokovic had won all five of their previous matches, Norrie put up solid resistance in their Geneva Open semi-final 10 days earlier. If there is any time for opponents to step on the court fully believing they can beat him, this is it. Djokovic continues to fight against the unavoidable struggles that come with age.
After his dire start to the clay-court season, Djokovic’s decision to compete in Geneva proved to be a smart move. He had been untroubled here, rolling into the second week without dropping a set, but it had also been difficult to assess his level. His highest ranked opponent had been the world No 73, Corentin Moutet.
Before the match, Norrie said he would have to be out on court for more than four hours if he had any chance of winning. He unsurprisingly tried to test Djokovic with his own durability and shot tolerance, dragging the Serb into countless long, attritional exchanges.
Over the past 18 months, Djokovic’s waning patience and fitness, two pillars of his game, are areas opponents have been able to exploit. But here he was disciplined. He peppered Norrie with drop shots, punishing his deep court positioning; he struck his forehand increasingly well as the match endured and he served well enough in the decisive moments. It was a positive, controlled performance against an opponent whose game simply lacks sufficient firepower to make Djokovic uncomfortable when he is dialled in.
After achieving his best result in Paris, Norrie leaves Roland Garros having achieved the breakthrough he has been seeking for so long. The past 18 months have been extremely difficult for him as he fell from his comfortable position inside the top 20 to outside the top 90. The Briton handled himself extremely well in Paris, following up his stellar five-set upset win against Daniil Medvedev with two quality victories. He will head to the grass-court season on home soil fully confident in his ability to maintain the momentum he has built.
“It was a really enjoyable clay season,” Norrie said. “I think I played 20 clay-court matches, and for me that’s huge. Really, the way for me to take confidence is playing matches and then actually getting through some tough matches. I won a lot of tie-breaks recently, so I can take so much confidence from this and momentum. I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s been really tricky to gain momentum.”
After the match, Djokovic also reflected on his eventful Saturday night after his third‑round victory against Filip Misolic as he tried to return to the hotel while fans continued to celebrate PSG’s Champions League victory in the streets. Roland Garros is just 600 metres from the Parc des Princes and fans congregated on streets directly outside the tournament’s grounds, letting off fireworks all night. In the morning, numerous cars close to the tournament were burned out.
“People were quite tense here, I must say, for our return to the hotel,” Djokovic said. “They were not suggesting us at one point to go back at all, to maybe find a place to sleep somewhere around here for a night, because at that point it was already past midnight and some gas bombs and cars under fire and stuff happening on the street that was really dangerous. Everything around our hotel, which is close to Arc de Triomphe. So in the end we talked. We waited for a bit, and then we decided to go.”
