World number one Novak Djokovic displayed his fighting spirit as he battled back to defeat Tallon Griekspoor 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 in a hard-fought match, securing his spot in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Thursday.
In what was only his second singles match since participating in the Davis Cup six weeks ago, the 24-time Grand Slam champion found himself on the back foot. Djokovic, unlike his smooth second-round victory, struggled, losing a 4-1 lead in the first set and missing three break opportunities early in the second.
However, the resilient Serb made a stunning comeback, dominating the tiebreak and ultimately clinching the decider. Djokovic is on a quest to claim his record-extending seventh title in Paris.
After the match, Djokovic admitted, “I ran out of steam; I’ve been struggling the last couple of days with my stomach, I didn’t feel myself at all on the court. It could’ve easily gone his way, but I played a good tiebreak and started to feel better in the third. I’m really happy I overcame this challenge.”
In other tournament developments, fourth seed Jannik Sinner withdrew from the competition due to health concerns following his grueling second-round match against Mackenzie McDonald that concluded at 2:37 am on Thursday.
As a result of Sinner’s withdrawal, Australia’s Alex de Minaur will face the in-form Andrey Rublev, the fifth-seed Russian who secured his 20th Masters 1000 win of the season by defeating qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp with a score of 6-3, 6-3.
Seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas secured his spot at the ATP Finals with a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over German 10th seed Alexander Zverev. Tsitsipas will now face Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals after the 16th seed from Russia triumphed over fellow Russian Roman Safiullin with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the 11th seed, kept his hopes alive for a spot at the tournament in Turin by defeating Argentine Francisco Cerundolo with a score of 6-4, 6-3. He is set to meet Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals after the Bulgarian routed Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-2.
In the last match of the evening, defending champion and sixth seed Holger Rune secured a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over Daniel Altmaier. The Dane is now poised to face Djokovic in a rematch of last year’s final.
