Novak Djokovic celebrated his 37th birthday on Wednesday by beating unseeded Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals at the Geneva Open.
It was the 1,100th victory for the World No. 1 at ATP tournaments.
Djokovic rallied from 3-0 down in the final set by winning six straight games. He converted his second match point when Hanfmann’s forehand hit the net.
The 32-year-old German broke Djokovic in the second game of the set when Djokovic struggled with his first serve.
The second-round match had earlier been suspended by rain with Djokovic trying to serve out the first set 5-3, deuce.
The record 24-time Grand Slam champion wasted a set point and had to save four break points before the match was interrupted by rainfall.
He had to save another break point after play resumed before serving out the set with an ace.
Djokovic received a wild card at the clay-court warmup event for the French Open.
Seeking his first title of the season, Djokovic will next face the winner of the match between Denis Shapovalov and Tallon Griekspoor, which was suspended due to rain on Wednesday.
The Geneva Open final is scheduled for Saturday, one day before main draw play starts at Roland Garros, where Djokovic is the defending champion.
Fernandez-Routliffe on to Strasbourg quarters
The Laval, Que., native fell to Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in a Round of 16 single’s match on Tuesday.
WATCH | Fernandez bested by Samsonova at Internationaux de Strasbourg:
Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova bested Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a rain-delayed Round of 16 match at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France.
Diallo, Stakusic near French Open main draw
Canadians Gabriel Diallo and Marina Stakusic are a win away from advancing to their first Grand Slam main draw.
Montreal’s Diallo advanced to the third round of French Open men’s qualifying on Thursday with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4 win over Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti.
Later, Stakusic, from Mississauga, Ont., saved match point and came back to defeat Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6) in a women’s second-round qualifying match.
Diallo will face Switzerland’s Alexander Ritschard on Thursday for a spot in the main draw.
The 19-year-old Stakusic came through in a tiebreaker after a crucial hold to tie the third set at 6-6. She will next face Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine.
Earlier, Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino was eliminated from the second round of qualifying with a 6-2, 6-3 loss to Croatia’s Lucija Ciric Bagaric.
Marino was seeking to reach the main draw at Roland-Garros for the third straight year.
The men’s and women’s main draws begin Sunday.
Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., are in the men’s draw, while Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., is in the women’s draw.
Mississauga’s Bianca Andreescu is also expected to make a return at Roland-Garros through her protected ranking. She hasn’t played since sustaining a back injury at the National Bank Open in Montreal last August.