Novak Djokovic suffers massive scare in Round 4, 2020 finalist Sofia Kenin crashes out of French Open

World number one Novak Djokovic suffered a major scare at Roland Garros and faced the prospect of his earliest appearance at a Paris major since 2009 before his opponent reached the quarterfinals of the 2021 French Open on Monday.

Djokovic had to fight back from a two-set deficit and was leading 4-0 in the decider when Lorenzo Musetti briefly left the court, and conceded after losing the next four games.

Djokovic, who is chasing his second French Open title, was ahead 6-7(7), 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-0, 4-0 before Musetti retired from the match which ended after 3 hours and 27 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The result helped Djokovic improve his record to 34-10 in five-set matches as he moved into the quarters at Roland Garros for the 15th time in his career.

The Serbian great will next face 9th-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini, who got a walkover when Roger Federer withdrew from his third-round match on Sunday.

Meanwhile, French Open 2020 finalist Sofia Kenin was knocked out of the competition by Greek player Maria Sakkari, who moved into the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time in her career.

American Kenin was the highest-seeded (4) player left in the women’s singles event but her campaign was cut short when she lost 1-6, 3-6 against Sakkari, who advanced to her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal and earned her sixth win against a top-20 player this year.

Kenin lost serve six times and had 32 unforced errors to 15 for the steady Sakkari. She managed to hold just two service games and cut a frustrated figure on the Suzanne Lenglen court, constantly muttering to herself but unable to solve her problems.

Sakkari, the 17th seed, had lost both her previous matches in majors against the 2020 Australian Open winner, and will meet either Polish defending champion Iga Swiatek or unseeded world No.81 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine for a place in the semi-finals.