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| - Novak Djokovic eyed a place in the Roland Garros last 16 for the 11th successive year on Saturday as unheralded Daniel Altmaier struck another blow for the underdogs in Paris. World number one Djokovic admits he knows absolutely nothing about Daniel Galan, the world number 153 from Colombia who stands in his way of a place in the second week. That may be just as well as Galan, a 24-year-old lucky loser from qualifying, says he's not a "diehard follower" of the world number one. "I don't know much about him," said Djokovic, the 2016 French Open champion who is chasing an 18th Grand Slam title. "I have never seen him play, so I'll have to obviously look at his matches, the videos, and try to prepare myself with my team." Djokovic, whose 2020 record now stands at 33 wins against just one loss, is bidding to become the first man in half a century to win all four Slams twice. His second round win over Ricardas Berankis was his 70th at the tournament. By contrast, Galan's only two wins at the Slams have come in Paris this week. "As a child I grew up with the rivalry between (Roger) Federer and (Marat) Safin," said Galan. "When I was older I admired (Rafael) Nadal for what he has achieved." The day after world number 239 Hugo Gaston and Sebastian Korda, ranked at 213, made the last 16, German qualifier Altmaier kept the sport's outsiders in the headlines. The world number 186 stunned seventh seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, becoming just the fourth man in 20 years to reach the round of 16 on his Grand Slam debut. Victory also means an unexpected financial windfall for the 22-year-old who is guaranteed at least $221,400 having earned $173,600 in his entire six-year career. Altmaier paid tribute to three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka for his help when he missed virtually all of 2018 through injury. "When I was watching him, he always says 'Allez, Stan.' I copy him a little bit because I like to say, 'Allez, Dan'. He has been a huge reason why I'm healthy now." Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas made the fourth round for a second successive year when Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene retired with a right foot injury. The 22-year-old was on court for just 80 minutes and was leading 6-1, 6-2, 3-1 when Bedene called it quits. Next up for Tsitsipas is Bulgarian 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov who also profitted from a retirement with Roberto Carballes Baena injured at 6-1, 6-3 down. The Spaniard had shocked ninth seed Denis Shapovalov in the previous round but that five-hour epic came back to haunt him. Russian 13th seed Andrey Rublev, the champion on clay in Hamburg on the eve of Roland Garros, eased past veteran South African Kevin Anderson in just 94 minutes. Rublev didn't face a break point in his 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win as he moved into the last 16 for the first time where he will face world number 63 Marton Fucsovics, the first Hungarian man in the second week since Balazs Taroczy in 1984. Tunisia's Ons Jabeur became the first Arab woman to make the last 16 with a 7-6 (9/7), 2-6, 6-3 win over Belarusian eighth seed Aryna Sabalenka. Jabeur, seeded 30, who made the quarter-finals at the Australian Open in January, faces either 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza from Spain or Danielle Collins of the United States for a place in the last-eight. American fourth seed and Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin eased through with a 6-2, 6-0 defeat of Romanian qualifier Irina Bara. Kenin, who defeated Serena Williams in the fourth round last year, will face either France's Fiona Ferro or another Romanian, Patricia Maria Tig. Zhang Shuai became the first Chinese woman to reach the last 16 since former champion Li Na in 2012. Zhang, 31, defeated French wildcard, and world number 357, Clara Burel 7-6 (7/2), 7-5 and will next face either seventh seed Petra Kvitova or 18-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez. The 100th-ranked Fernandez, just 18, won the girls' title in Paris last year. Later Saturday, 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko, who knocked out second seed Karolina Pliskova on Thursday, takes on Spain's Paula Badosa. The New York-born Badosa, ranked 87, is making her Roland Garros debut and marked the occasion by stunning former US Open champion and 2018 Roland Garros finalist Sloane Stephens in the second round. dj/mw
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