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Alexander Zverev secured a place in his seventh French Open quarter-final on Monday as his last-16 opponent, Tallon Griekspoor, retired injured in the second set.
The German third seed, who lost to Carlos Alcaraz in last year’s final, was leading 6-4, 3-0 when Dutchman Griekspoor called it quits on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Zverev will face Novak Djokovic in the last eight as he continues his latest bid for a maiden Grand Slam title.
Zverev has made at least the last four at the past four French Opens and is into his seventh quarter-final at Roland Garros in total.
The 28-year-old has won five of his 13 career matches with Djokovic, including in Melbourne in January when the Serb retired injured from their semi-final following the first set.
“We have great history in our rivalry, I would say, but I’m looking forward to the match, and it’s always a privilege to be on court with him,” said Alexander Zverev.
“But he has to win first today, also, right? I don’t want to disrespect anybody, and anybody who is in the fourth round deserves to be there, so I have to respect Cam and we’ll see how the match goes.
“Of course, playing Novak is always an honour.”
Dutchman Griekspoor’s serve was severely affected by his injury, although he managed to take a 3-0 lead in the first set before Zverev found his rhythm.
“Unfortunately this morning in the warm-up… I pulled my abdominal (muscle) which made me not serve fully and not able to compete the way I would like,” said Griekspoor, who was playing in the fourth round of a major for the first time.
READ: Carlos Alcaraz grinds past Ben Shelton to reach French Open last eight
