Novak Djokovic narrowly avoided defeat against Tallon Griekspoor to book his spot in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters, though it wasn’t a pleasant evening for the Serbian. The world No 1 called a doctor to the court after the first set, with the source of his troubles now revealed.
Djokovic’s 4-6 7-6 6-4 victory over Griekspoor means that he will face Holger Rune today, and the 36-year-old will need to improve if he is to get the better of the Dane. Rune has impressed in his last two performances, comfortably seeing off Dominic Thiem and Daniel Altmaier with very little fuss.
Djokovic is still a firm favourite to win the competition, though some of his rivals are finding strong form in France. Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Hubert Hurkacz will all be hopeful of stealing the show in Paris, and it remains to be seen how the trio fare on Thursday.
Jannik Skinner would have hoped to have also had a fighting chance of winning the competition too, prior to his fatigue-related withdrawal. The Italian has been named as Djokovic’s nearest rival by former ATP star Filippo Volandri in an eye-catching statement.
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