Doha: Novak Djokovic admitted he had to fight to come back from a set down to beat World No.36, Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics at the Qatar Open.
The World No.1 survived a huge scare to eventually triumph 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 Wednesday and admitted his opponent was very close to the win. The match lasted exactly two hours, which was twice as long as the Serb spent on court in his first round stroll against Damir Dzumhur, where he lost just three games.
A backhand winner eventually secured victory for Djokovic but the result was in doubt for a long time, with the Serb only breaking Fucsovics in the tenth game of the second set to ensure the match went into a final set shootout. The No.1 seed, will play fifth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili in the quarterfinals.
The Georgian beat Russia’s Andrey Rublev, the 2018 runner-up, 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday. If he wins his last eight match, Djokovic is on course to meet Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals after the Swiss also won Wednesday, beating Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). Wawrinka plays Spain’s Roberto Batista Agut in the quarters.
Also through is France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert who notched a second thrilling victory in as many nights by beating Germany’s Max Marterer 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (8-6). Herbert, who beat second seed and World No.8 Dominic Thiem 24 hours earlier, will now play Tomas Berdych in the last eight, who won a three-set match against Fernando Verdasco, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in the last match of the night.