Novak Djokovic outlasts Philipp Kohlschreiber to enter quarters – French Open 2013
Top seed, Novak Djokovic, made a comeback from a set down to overpower the German number one, Philipp Kohlschreiber, at the Roland Garros 2013 on Monday. He penned down a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory against the veteran to secure
a place in the last eight at this Major clay court tournament.
The Belgrade native, Djokovic, made a dismal entry at the Court Philippe Chatrier and lost the opening set right away. However, he sought his rhythm afterwards and eventually carved out the victory. As a result, he improved to
3-1 in the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series against the German and stayed on track to become the eighth person to complete career Grand Slam.
Ranked 19th in the Emirates Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Kohlschreiber high-spiritedly started the match. He swiftly bagged his entire serves and got the breakthrough in the fifth game to pull out the opener with
a 6-4 score line.
Djokovic hit back in the following set. He got the coveted break in the fourth game and leaped to a 4-1 lead. The Serb kept his remaining serves with ease and sealed the set by winning six games to three.
The 26-year-old kept momentum rolling in the third set. He drew the first blood in the third game and jumped to a 3-1 lead. Djokovic then slid his remaining serves and clicked the set with a 6-4 win.
The Serbian’s skills were fully polished in the proceeding set. He jumped to a 5-2 lead with two breaks of serve. Apart from losing his serve in the eighth game, Djokovic plucked his serve once again and clinched the set with a
6-4 score line.
Next in line for Djokovic is the former world number two, Tommy Haas from Germany.
“It is one of the biggest challenges in tennis, if not the biggest one right now, playing against the No. 1 player. [He is] somebody that's very, very eager to win this title – [the] one that's missing in his collection.”
With this progress, Haas completed his record of Grand Slam quarter-final appearances. In addition to this, the 35-year-old became the first German to secure a spot in the final eight at Roland Garros since 1996.
“What I'm really proud about is that I reached the quarter-finals here for the first time, not knowing if that was ever going to be possible,” said the evergreen German. “It's a great success for me.”
The German triumphed over 29th seeded Mikhail Youzhny with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory to progress at this event.
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