French Open: Norrie match delayed, Djokovic and Zverev safely through

British number three Cameron Norrie will need to return to Court Philippe Chatrier tomorrow one set down against world number 16 Lucas Pouille at the French Open, with the score at 2-6 4-6 7-5.

Pouille, France’s number one singles player, took the first set 6-2 and saved two break points on the way to a 6-4 win in the second set.

Norrie, who reached the semi-final in Lyon last week, hit back in the third set and came from 3-2 down to eventually triumph 7-5.

Earlier in the day, world number two Alexander Zverev was pushed all the way by Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, winning in five sets 2-6 7-5 4-6 6-1 6-2.

Lajovic dominated the first set, breaking twice before saving three break points when serving for the first set.

Zverev took the second though, taking a crucial break at 6-5 to level but Lajovic’s fine performance continued when he won the third set.

The German’s superiority finally shone through though, winning five games in a row in the fourth set and the opening four games of the decider to win in three hours and 28 minutes.

Novak Djokovic, who has dropped to 22nd in the world rankings after long-term injury, came through against Jaume Munar 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-4.

The pair shared four breaks in the opener as the world number 155 forced a tie-break but six points in a row led Djokovic to the opening set.

Munar then matched Djokovic all the way to 4-4 in the second set but a break and a hold put the Serbian firmly in control, and a break at 3-3 in the third led Djokovic to the win.

Elsewhere, fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov’s match against American Jared Donaldson went right to the wire.

Dimitrov came from behind twice to force a fifth set and the decider went to serve all the way until 7-7.

The Bulgarian broke to love but, with the opportunity to serve for the match, was broken straight away for 8-8. Another break came and Dimitrov finally did serve out the match which finished 6-7 6-4 4-6 6-4 10-8 in four hours and 22 minutes.

Nineteenth seed Kei Nishikori also needed five sets to get past Benoit Paire.

Nishikori eased to a 6-3 win in the first set before Paire hit back to level then take the lead.

The world number 21 levelled and broke twice in the decider to win 6-3 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3.

Cover Photo: IMG_3821 by Marianne Bevis used under license by CC BY-ND 2.0.