World number one Novak Djokovic put in another assured performance to beat Daniel Elahi Galan and reach the French Open fourth round.

The Serb, bidding for his 18th Grand Slam title, beat the Colombian qualifier 6-0 6-3 6-2.

Djokovic, who took the first set in 25 minutes, has lost just 15 games in his opening three matches.

He will face 15th seed Karen Khachanov of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals in Paris.

It is the 11th consecutive year that Djokovic has reached the last 16 at Roland Garros.

Aiming for a second French Open title, Djokovic barely looked troubled against the world number 153.

Galan got the biggest cheer of the day when he finally got on the board after losing the first eight games.

There were moments for Galan – he had two opportunities to break an increasingly frustrated Djokovic at 4-2 in the third set – but the 2016 champion was able to shut him down.

Djokovic finished with 37 winners and saved all five break points he faced, with his drop shot working to particularly good effect.

Djokovic also stepped in when his opponent slipped as heavy rain fell.

Play initially continued while the roof on Court Philippe Chatrier was closing, causing Galan to slip on a muddy patch of clay mid-rally.

Djokovic stopped and took his seat, allowing the roof to fully close and the staff to dry the court before play resumed.

He will face a tougher test against Khachanov, who beat him in the Paris Masters final two years ago.

Khachanov beat 20th seed Christian Garin of Chile 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-2.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

%d bloggers like this: