French Open 2021: Novak Djokovic reaches the Round of 16 at Paris for the a record 12th consecutive time, beats Ricardas Berankis


French Open 2021: Novak Djokovic reaches the Round of 16 at Paris for the a record 12th consecutive time, beats Ricardas Berankis

Novak Djokovic

World No.1, Novak Djokovic proved to be too much for Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis as he cruised into the Fourth Round at Paris for the 15th time. He defeated the World No.93 in straight sets 6-1,6-4,6-1. With this win, Djokovic has reached the Fourth Round for a record 12th consecutive time.

Djokovic meant business right of the blocks. The level of intensity he showed from Game 1 was out of the world. He held serve and then broke Berankis upfront to take a 3-0 lead. But the World No.1 was not done yet. He broke him again and stormed off to a 5-0 lead with a double break. The highlighting factor is that Berankis won just 8 points in the initial 5 games. He although got on board the next game but it was Djokovic who ran away with the first set 6-1 in just 28 minutes.

The Lithuanian served better in the second set. He managed to hold serve for 2 games and drew level at 2-2. But Djokovic broke serve the very next game and took a decisive 4-2 lead. Both players successfully held serve for the remainder of the set, Djokovic eventually winning it 6-4.

Djokovic too good for Berankis

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

There was absolutely no challenge from Berankis’ side of the court. His second serve was particularly poor and more than 30 unforced errors didn’t help him either. He also didn’t manage to create any break points on Djokovic’s serve and got broken 6 times.

The third set also had the story as the first. Djokovic was hitting winners left, right and center and left his Lithuanian opponent a sitting duck. He broke Berankis twice upfront and was quick in taking a match-winning 4-0 lead. Berankis finally held serve in the 5th game but Djokovic broke him again for the 6th time to take the third set 6-1 in 30 minutes.

Djokovic will next face Italian teen sensation Lorenzo Musetti on Sunday. Musetti got the better of countryman Marco Cecchinato in a five set epic earlier in the day.

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Also read: French Open 2021: ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal on the verge of breaking Jimmy Connors’ all-time Grand Slam record