French Open 2023: Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo Varillas preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Roland Garros

Fixture: (3) Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo Varillas

Date: Sunday, June 4

Tournament: French Open 2023

Round: Fourth round (Round of 16)

Venue: Paris, France

Category: Grand Slam

Surface: Outdoor clay

Prize money: €49,600,000

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel, NBC Sports, Peacock TV | Canada - TSN | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Ten

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Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo Varillas preview

Third seed Novak Djokovic will continue his quest for a record 23rd Grand Slam title when he takes on Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas for a place in the French Open quarterfinals.

World No. 3 Djokovic emerged unscathed from a potential banana-skin matchup against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Court Philippe Chatrier, with the first two sets going for three hours.

In the first set, the Serb twice fell behind a break but recouped it immediately before taking the opener in a tie-break. To his credit, Davidovich Fokina refused to go away, swinging freely to take a 2-0 lead.

Djokovic responded with four straight games, but the Spaniard got back on serve as another tie-break ensued. The 22-time Major winner, though, raised his level to take a two-set lead.

Djokovic then ran through the third set for the loss of just two games to reach the Roland Garros fourth round for the 14th straight year. He's now 23-4 on the season and 88-16 at the clay court Major.

Meanwhile, the 94h-ranked Varillas saw off 13th seed Hubert Hurkacz in five sets - going the distance for the third straight match. In all three matches, he dropped the first set, only to recover on each occasion.

After taking a 2-1 set lead against Hurkacz, Varillas failed to close out the victory as a decider ensued. However, he conceded just two games in the fifth for his ninth win in 19 matches this year. The 27-year-old is now 3-1 at Roland Garros.

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Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo Varillas head-to-head

The two players haven't met before, so their head-to-head record stands at 0-0.

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Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo Varillas odds

All odds as per BETMGM

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Novak Djokovic vs Juan Pablo Varillas prediction

Both Djokovic and Varillas are quintessentially baseliners, but the similarities end there.

Djokovic is widely regarded as one of the best players in the sport's history and is a counterpuncher par excellence. Although he's not the biggest server or the most powerful of hitters, the Serb - with an all-court game - stands out with his consistency, metronomic accuracy, and temperament.

The two-time champion has a 265-66 record on clay, winning 18 titles, while Varillas is only 27-22 and has zero titles. As if that isn't enough, Varillas has gone the distance in all three matches this week, while Djokovic hasn't dropped a set, which tips the scale further in the latter's favour.

Pick: Djokovic in straight sets