Novak Djokovic Vs Valentin Royer, French Open: Serbian Through To Next Round With Four Set Victory

Novak Djokovic placed ice packs around his neck and on top of his head during changeovers to keep cool amid the Paris heat wave at the French Open on Wednesday. The 39-year-old Djokovic was pushed by 74th-ranked French player Valentin Royer — who is 15 years younger than him — for more than 3½ hours before he reached the third round with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 victory. For the fourth straight day of this year’s tournament, the temperature rose above 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit). When Djokovic won a key point early in the fourth set with a forehand that he whipped around the net post from far off the court, the 24-time Grand Slam champion waved his arms toward the crowd inside Court Philippe-Chatrier. Djokovic wasted a chance to close the match out earlier when he missed a backhand long in the third-set tiebreaker then required four more match points in his final service game before a forehand from Royer landed in the net to conclude a long rally.

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