French Open: Djokovic survives Musetti scare to enter quarterfinals

World number one Novak Djokovic on Monday stormed into the quarterfinals of the ongoing French Open.

Musetti opted out of the match in the fifth set due to an injury. The 34-year-old Djokovic defeated Italy's Lorenzo Musetti 6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 ret in the fourth-round match at Court Philippe-Chatrier. With this win, the Serbian has qualified for the quarterfinals of the French Open for the 15th time in his career.

The first set was a closely fought affair and it went back and forth between both the competitors. At one stage, it was level at 6-6 and as a result, it went down to the tiebreaker. No one was giving an inch and in the end, it was Musetti who won the first set 7-6.

There was nothing to separate between the two in the second set as well, and as a result, this too went down to a tie-breaker. And once again, it was Musetti who prevailed, winning it 7-6 and he just needed victory in another set, to cause the biggest upset and knock out Djokovic.

After being two sets down, Djokovic staged a comeback in the third set and he displayed his A-game to throw Musetti off the track and as a result, the match progressed to the fourth set. The world number one displayed why he is labelled as a modern-day great and he did not drop even a single game in the fourth set, winning it 6-0, and as a result, the match went into the fifth and final set.

Djokovic carried on with his momentum and he was leading the fifth set 4-0, and it was then, that Musetti opted out of the match due to an injury and as a result, the Serbian got a walkover and he progressed to the quarterfinals.

On Sunday, American tennis player Serena Williams bowed out of the ongoing French Open. Kazakhstan's 21-year-old Elena Rybakina had defeated Serena 6-3, 7-5 in the fourth-round match here at Court Philippe-Chatrier. Serena has not added to her Grand Slam tally since beating her sister Venus in the Australian Open final in 2017.

Earlier on Sunday, Roger Federer withdrew himself from the ongoing French Open, tournament organisers confirmed. Speaking about his decision, Federer had said: "After discussions with my team, I have decided I will need to pull out of the Roland Garros today. After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it is important that I listen to my body and make sure I do not push myself too quickly on my road to recovery."

( With inputs from ANI )