“More than a mental machine” – Novak Djokovic clinches a sensational comeback victory vs Francisco Cerundolo, tennis world reacts

This was Djokovic second consecutive five-set thriller.

“More than a mental machine” – Novak Djokovic clinches a sensational comeback victory vs Francisco Cerundolo, tennis world reacts

Novak Djokovic (via Imago)

For the second match in a row, Novak Djokovic comes back from two sets to one down to defeat an opponent this year at Roland Garros. This time, it was the 23rd seed, Francisco Cerundolo, who fell to his brilliance.

The defending champion was two games away from losing the match as he found himself 2-4 down in the fourth set. However, he not only leveled the scores but also saved a break point at 5-5, giving him hope. Within a few minutes, it was two sets all, and the crowd anticipated a fifth set.

YouTube video

With all the experience in his locker, Djokovic waited for his chance. Despite an awful slip in the third game of the fifth set, nothing could break his momentum. Finally, he broke in the eighth game of the final set and closed out the match, which lasted a little over four hours.

FS Video

With this win, Djokovic broke Roger Federer‘s record for the most Grand Slam match wins (370). He needs to reach the finals of Roland Garros to maintain his World No. 1 ranking against Jannik Sinner.

Tennis fans applaud Novak Djokovic’s comeback vs. Francisco Cerundolo at Roland Garros

As soon as top seed Novak Djokovic completed his five-set comeback against Francisco Cerundolo, the tennis world jumped onto X (formerly known as Twitter) and saluted the World No. 1 for his incredible effort.

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic after winning his 4th round match (via Imago)

Check out some reactions here:

The World No.1 appeared to have things under control when he took the first set 6-1. However, he had a medical timeout at the beginning of the second set, as he felt some discomfort in his knee.

That medical timeout appeared to have given some encouragement to his opponent as Cerundolo leveled the scores with the second set 7-5. The defending champion’s movement looked all over the place in the third set as the Argentine looked to be in for a major upset, taking the third 6-3.

Despite initially trailing in the fourth set, Djokovic started playing better and with a bit more clarity. Even with his hampered movement, the top seed started to get involved in more baseline exchanges and clean up his game. Eventually, the pressure got to Cerundolo as the Serbian staged a historic comeback.

Djokovic will next meet Casper Ruud in a rematch of last year’s final. The three-time tournament champion won the 2023 final in straight sets. However, the two-time finalist turned the tables on Djokovic earlier this year in Monte Carlo, beating him for the first time in his career.

In case you missed it!