On Friday, Djokovic’s winning streak reached eight as he beat Slovenian Aljaz Bedene in straight sets to advance to the fourth round of the Paris Open.
Earlier in May, the 35-year-old won the 38th ATP Masters 1000 championship in Rome, and he has looked dominant throughout the first week in Paris, where he hasn’t lost a set. In a third-round match on Friday, he won by beating Bedene 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
As Djokovic won his maiden French Open title six years ago, the match-up must have evoked some memories for him as he had defeated Aljaz Bedene in the third round. As he looks to win a third Roland Garros crown in the near future, he must have been thrilled about beating the Slovenian at the same stage in 2022.
It will be difficult for the now 195th-ranked opponent – whose recent seasons have been littered with injuries – to win the match for the first time in his four previous matches against Djokovic in 13 years. As he dictated the baseline exchanges against Bedene on Court Philippe Chatrier, Djokovic fired 30 winners and committed just 18 unforced errors to reach the fourth round for the 16th time.
According to a report on the ATP website, Djokovic will enter his match with a 6-0 lead in the head-to-head series. He will play Argentine Diego Schwartzman after his one-hour, 45-minute victory.
As Bedene’s rhythm was disrupted by his sliced backhand, Djokovic looked strong on serve, losing just two points behind his first serve in the first two sets. Djokovic struck his groundstrokes cleanly, and Bedene continued to hit the ball into his hitting zone as he served well. To win his 15th match of the season, Djokovic continued to serve well and outmaneuver Bedene from the baseline.
Although Djokovic said he was happy with his performance, he didn’t feel he played a perfect match. “It’s subjective. It’s not possible to play a perfect match, but you try to play close to it.” Every day, whenever I enter a tennis court, when I am training, I have high expectations on my level to try to play aggressively.
The official website of the French Open quoted Djokovic as saying, “It isn’t always possible, but today I did really well.” In Serbia, I have played this surface (clay) a lot, but every tournament is different, so here in Paris, the courts are perfect. It is a very high-standard tournament, one of the best in the world, so motivation is easy to find.”