PARIS, France (Reuters) -- Serbian Novak Djokovic was only seven when Swede Jonas Bjorkman made his debut at Roland Garros but whatever he lacks in experience he made up for with youthful exuberance on Monday as he bounded into the quarterfinals.
Powerful, razor-sharp and fleet-footed, the 20-year-old sixth seed made mincemeat of Spain's Fernando Verdasco, winning 6-3 6-3 7-6 on a humid day at the French Open.
Bjorkman, at 35 the oldest man to reach the fourth round since 1972, started well enough against former champion Carlos Moya before the exertions of the past week caught up with him.
Moya, no youngster himself at 30, now carries the flag for the older generation after a 7-6 6-2 7-5 victory.
Djokovic, the youngest player in the last 16, proved again that he has the game to loosen the Nadal-Federer stranglehold.
Kitted out in bright yellow shirt and black shorts, Djokovic buzzed across the red clay, stinging Verdasco with winners from every conceivable angle.
A single service break was all it needed in the first set and he went 4-0 up in the second to establish complete control against the highest-ranked player he has faced here so far.
Fierce rally
Verdasco, who had a 2-0 career record over Djokovic, made a match of it in the third set but even luck was against him.
A fierce rally at 1-3 in the tiebreak ended when a fizzing Djokovic backhand dropped dead off the netcord.
The Serbian looked to the heavens, arms aloft, but he needed no further assistance from above as he closed out the match.
Bjorkman defied conventional wisdom last year by getting to the semi-finals of Wimbledon and said on Saturday that reaching the fourth round of Roland Garros in the twilight of his admirable career was on a par.
When he moved into an early 3-0 lead and threatened a double break it even looked possible that the dream run might continue, but although the mind was willing his body began to fail him.
Twenty-third seed Moya, the 1998 champion and still a force on clay, recovered from a sluggish start to take the first set on a tiebreak and then cruised through the second.
Bjorkman, who came back from two-set deficits in the first two rounds here, needed treatment on his shoulder at the end of the second set and although he gamely hung on in the third, there was no way back on this occasion.
In later play defending champion Rafael Nadal was facing Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis was taking on Russian Igor Andreev.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Powerful, razor-sharp and fleet-footed, the 20-year-old sixth seed made mincemeat of Spain's Fernando Verdasco, winning 6-3 6-3 7-6 on a humid day at the French Open.
Bjorkman, at 35 the oldest man to reach the fourth round since 1972, started well enough against former champion Carlos Moya before the exertions of the past week caught up with him.
Moya, no youngster himself at 30, now carries the flag for the older generation after a 7-6 6-2 7-5 victory.
Djokovic, the youngest player in the last 16, proved again that he has the game to loosen the Nadal-Federer stranglehold.
Kitted out in bright yellow shirt and black shorts, Djokovic buzzed across the red clay, stinging Verdasco with winners from every conceivable angle.
A single service break was all it needed in the first set and he went 4-0 up in the second to establish complete control against the highest-ranked player he has faced here so far.
Fierce rally
Verdasco, who had a 2-0 career record over Djokovic, made a match of it in the third set but even luck was against him.
A fierce rally at 1-3 in the tiebreak ended when a fizzing Djokovic backhand dropped dead off the netcord.
The Serbian looked to the heavens, arms aloft, but he needed no further assistance from above as he closed out the match.
Bjorkman defied conventional wisdom last year by getting to the semi-finals of Wimbledon and said on Saturday that reaching the fourth round of Roland Garros in the twilight of his admirable career was on a par.
When he moved into an early 3-0 lead and threatened a double break it even looked possible that the dream run might continue, but although the mind was willing his body began to fail him.
Twenty-third seed Moya, the 1998 champion and still a force on clay, recovered from a sluggish start to take the first set on a tiebreak and then cruised through the second.
Bjorkman, who came back from two-set deficits in the first two rounds here, needed treatment on his shoulder at the end of the second set and although he gamely hung on in the third, there was no way back on this occasion.
In later play defending champion Rafael Nadal was facing Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis was taking on Russian Igor Andreev.
Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
No comments:
Post a Comment