Surging Serbian
Djokovic sails into record 19th QF appearance
Djokovic sails into record 19th QF appearance

Bogo City’s Etha Nadine Seno stamped her class with a pair of commanding victories to sweep the girls’ 14U and 16U…

Sinner survives Zverev, defends Wimby title

Jannik Sinner reinforced his status as the world's top-ranked player after successfully defending his Wimbledon title,…
Eala makes Phl return ahead of North American swing

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Linda Noskova won her first Wimbledon title in astonishing style on Saturday as the…

NOVAK Djokovic displays his deadly form during his 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Cameron Norrie in the men’s singles event of the French Open.
Photograph by ALAIN JOCARD/agence france-presse
What's your take?
Google Preferred Sources
Get more Daily Tribune stories in your search results
Add Daily Tribune as a preferred source on Google Search.
Continue reading
Novak Djokovic sailed into a record 19th French Open quarterfinal on Monday, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner dismantled Andrey Rublev in straight sets.
World No. 361 Lois Boisson knocked out women’s third seed Jessica Pegula to become the first home quarterfinalist at Roland Garros since 2017.
The 38-year-old Serbian dusted aside Britain’s Cameron Norrie in three sets, his 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier bringing up the Serbian’s 100th match win at the French Open.
His tally of 19 quarterfinal appearances at Roland Garros is the record for a single Grand Slam tournament, surpassing Roger Federer’s 18 Wimbledon quarterfinals.
But Djokovic, a three-time French Open champion, is focused on much bigger goals as he chases a new outright record of 25 Grand Slam titles this week.
“I feel good. I know I can play better. But 12 sets played, 12 sets won, it’s been solid so far,” said Djokovic, who will likely face a much more difficult test against world No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
“It’s great, but victory number 101 would be better. I’m very honoured... But I need to continue now.”
Djokovic has not played anyone ranked higher than 73rd through the first four rounds. Zverev was last year’s runner-up and advanced when Djokovic retired injured from their last meeting in the Australian Open semifinals in January.
Zverev moved into his seventh Roland Garros quarter-final when Dutch opponent Tallon Griekspoor quit with an abdominal problem while trailing 6-4, 3-0.
The German is still hunting a first Grand Slam title. He lost the 2024 final to Carlos Alcaraz and then finished runner-up to Sinner in Melbourne.
“Novak Djokovic will never be a (dark) horse. For me, Carlos is the favorite,” Zverev said.
“Then I would say the next three in line are Jannik, myself, and Novak, right? I still believe that.”
World No. 1 Sinner fired a warning shot to his title rivals with a ruthless 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russian 17th seed Rublev in the night session.
Sinner, who returned from a three-month doping ban last month at the Italian Open, will face the unseeded Alexander Bublik for a place in the Last Four.
Italy’s Sinner is targeting a third consecutive Grand Slam title after lifting the US Open trophy last year and winning his second successive Australian Open in January.
“Today was a very good performance but we will try to keep going and see how it goes,” the three-time major champion said.
Bublik took down his second top-10 rival in Paris as the rejuvenated Kazakh came from a set behind to defeat British fifth seed Jack Draper 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Bublik, ranked 62nd, is into his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Boisson sent shockwaves through Roland Garros as she kept the French flag flying with an improbable 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over 2024 US Open runner-up Pegula, to join Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva in the Last Eight.
Boisson, 22, came from a set down against last year’s US Open runner-up to prolong her dream run on her Grand Slam debut.
She is the first French singles quarter-finalist in Paris since Caroline Garica and Kristina Mladenovic made it to the same stage eight years ago. Mary Pierce was the tournament’s last French champion in 2000.