Novak Djokovic celebrated his 37th birthday on Wednesday by defeating unseeded Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals at the Geneva Open. This victory marked the 1,100th win for the World No. 1 at ATP tournaments.
Djokovic came back from being 3-0 down in the final set by winning six straight games. He secured the match on 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 as Djokovic had trouble with his first serve. Earlier, the second-round match was paused due to rain with Djokovic trying to serve out the first set at 5-3, deuce.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion missed a set point and had to save four break points before the rain interruption.
After play resumed, he saved another break point before closing out the set with an ace. Hanfmann had defeated Andy Murray in the first round 7-5, 6-2. Djokovic entered the clay-court warmup event for the French Open with a wild card.
Looking for his first title of the season, Djokovic will next play either Denis Shapovalov or Tallon Griekspoor.
The Geneva Open final is set for Saturday, one day before main draw play starts at Roland Garros, where Djokovic is the defending champion.
