Paris — What was shaping up as a struggle for Novak Djokovic at the French Open suddenly turned into something of a stroll.
Even at a set apiece with big-hitting 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro when play was suspended because of darkness a day earlier, Djokovic quickly faced two break points Saturday. He saved those, then broke Del Potro in the next game, and that was pretty much that.
“If he serves well, he can beat anybody, really,” Djokovic said. “I went (into) the match a bit more nervous than usual.”
If that’s so, it didn’t really show. Djokovic completed a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory in the third round, pushing his 2011 record to 40-0 and stretching his winning streak to 42 matches overall, including two Davis Cup matches in December.
The 24-year-old Serb’s 42-match run is tied for the third-longest by a man in the Open era, which began in 1968; Guillermo Vilas won 46 in a row in 1977. And Djokovic is off to the second-best start to a season, trailing only John McEnroe’s 42-0 in 1984.
Djokovic put again his perfect season on the line late last night while 2009 French Open champion Roger Federer played Davis Cup teammate Stanislas Wawrinka. (Results were not yet available as of press time).
19-year-old Pavlyuchenkova reaches women’s quarterfinal
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova knocked out the highest seeded player remaining in the women’s draw at the French Open, beating No. 3 Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
Pavlyuchenkova, at 19 the youngest player still in the tournament, won the final five games after being broken early in the third set.
The third-seeded Zvonareva followed No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and No. 2 Kim Clijsters out of the tournament. They both lost in the third round. Fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus is now the highest seeded player left.
It is only the third time that none of the top three seeded women has reached the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968, and the first time at the French Open. It also happened at Wimbledon in 2008 — when the top four were eliminated by the end of the fourth round — and at the Australian Open in 1997.
On the women’s side, Schiavone and No. 10 Jelena Jankovic are scheduled to be in action. /ap