Djokovic comes back again for another five-set win, beats Cerundolo to reach Roland-Garros quarter-finals

As if a five-setter that ended at 3:06 am wasn’t difficult enough for Novak Djokovic, he was put through his paces yet again at Roland-Garros on Monday evening.

Djokovic battled to a second consecutive five-set win, this one over Francisco Cerundolo in the round of 16. It lasted even longer (four hours and 39 minutes) than his third-rounder against Musetti (four hours and 29 minutes), and the outcome was the same — the Serb was the last man standing. He prevailed 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash with Casper Ruud.

Djokovic mounts another Roland-Garros comeback

Just like on Saturday night — more like Sunday morning — against Musetti, Djokovic found himself trailing Cerundolo two sets to one. In fact, the world No 1 even fell behind by a break in the fourth.

However, a second comeback from the brink of defeat at this tournament began with Cerundolo serving at 4-3, two games from the biggest win of his career. That is when the Argentine started to crack, coinciding with Djokovic’s forehand catching fire. Djokovic broke back to level the score at 4-4 and eventually broke again at 6-5 to force a decider.

It felt like it was all over for Cerundolo when he immediately dropped serve to fall behind 2-0 in the fifth. However, the world No 27 was not about to go down without a fight. He surprisingly broke serve for 1-2 and then remained on even terms until 3-4. The eighth game proved to be decisive, as Djokovic seized an improbable break from 0-40 down.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion served out the match with ease one game later.

“I’m glad that I was able to play fifth set and last three, four games of the fourth without feeling that pain that I felt for two and a half sets,” said Djokovic, who tweaked his knee early in the second. “But, yeah, you never know what will happen tomorrow.

“The adrenaline, of course, that kicks in, that helps you go through the tournament. Sometimes is a match or two, sometimes the entire tournament. (The) good thing about the slam is that you have a day between that will allow hopefully the healing process to happen more efficiently for me.

“That’s it. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow or after tomorrow if I’ll be able to step out on the court and play. I hope so. Let’s see what happens.”

If Djokovic is able to play, his showdown with Ruud on Wednesday will be a rematch of last year’s final — which the Serb won in straight sets.

DJOKOVIC STANDS ALONE WITH TWO MORE RECORDS

With another dramatic victory, Djokovic climbed into the solo lead of two more record books. He has now won 370 matches at Grand Slams, one more than Roger Federer (369). Rafael Nadal is third with 314.

The 37-year-old is through to a slam quarter-final for the 59th time in his illustrious career — again one more than Federer (58). Nadal is third with 47 quarter-final appearances.

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