Anxiously awaiting the likely Djokovic, Nadal quarterfinal clash
— -- PARIS -- When it was over, after Thanasi Kokkinakis' last backhand soared well wide, there was no breathless, giddy tumble backward into the red clay -- as France's Alize Cornet had fallen on this very court after winning a third-round match not 24 hours before.
Rather, Novak Djokovic, who has never won the French Open, strode to the net, shook Kokkinakis' hand and gave the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd a somewhat restrained thumbs up. He spoke credible French in his on-court interview and stuck around for a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Fred Stolle's Roland Garros victory in 1965.
Djokovic coolly dispatched Kokkinakis, the 19-year-old Australian phenom, Saturday 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 at the French Open and stayed the hottest player in tennis. Rafael Nadal, who turns 29 next Tuesday, continued to regain his sea legs on the red clay that has been his canvas for greatness.
Later, the No. 6-seeded Nadal defeated Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-3, 6-2.
Only a pair of fourth-round matches Monday can prevent the No. 1 seed and the nine-time champion from colliding in what would be an incandescent quarterfinal match Wednesday.
Through three matches, the two players have won each of the nine sets they've played, with Rafa losing only 24 games, six fewer than Djokovic.
"I think that tennis needs players like Thanasi, who is a teenager, but still able to come out on center court and play with courage and play with power and believe in himself," Djokovic said afterward. "He's one of this group of three, four young players that are starting to be more and more consistent and make couple of big wins in their careers and that are obviously expected to do very well from the tennis world.
"Now, we didn't have that many young successful players under 20 year olds in last six, seven years, so I think it's quite refreshing for tennis, and it's pretty good to see that."
It was the 25th straight match-win for Djokovic, and he has won 38 of 40 this season. He's also won 22 for his past 23 Grand Slams encounters. Djokovic did not face a break point against Kokkinakis, who was trying to become the youngest Aussie in the Open era to reach the fourth round here at Roland Garros.
There were no after-effects of a groin injury Djokovic suffered in the second round. But he said he did not practice Friday in order to keep his body fresh.
Nadal, for his part, ran his surreal record at Roland Garros to 69-1; his best-of-five record on clay is an even more imposing 92-1.
Kuznetsov was the lowest-ranked player (No. 120) to reach the third round and was looking for his first berth in a Grand Slam fourth round.
Next up for Rafa is American Jack Sock, who is into his first Grand Slam fourth round after a straight-sets victory against Croatian teenager Borna Coric.
"He's a great player, no?" said Nadal, who has never played Sock. "He's playing fantastic, winning very tough matches against very difficult opponents like [Grigor] Dimitrov, Pablo Carrena and today against [Borna] Coric. He has an amazing forehand, good serve, very good serve, and then he's a player that can play very aggressive and is dangerous, no?
"I know I have to be very solid. I know I have to play aggressive, try to don't let him to hit the forehand in positions, because I am going to be in big trouble."
After the match, a reporter relayed some complimentary quotes that had come earlier in the day from Gustavo Kuerten, the three-time French Open champion. "Guga" said that Nadal's feat of winning nine titles in 10 years would never be broken -- and that Rafa was from another planet.
"First of all," Nadal said, "I am from this planet, I think. Second thing, thanks to Guga for the words. Third thing, is true that is probably a tough record to beat. But at the same time, I tell you one thing: If I did, you know, somebody else can do it."
