PARIS — Top seed Novak Djokovic continued his imperious progress at the French Open with a 6-0 6-3 6-2 drubbing of Colombian Daniel Galan to effortlessly reach the last 16 for the 11th straight year on Saturday.

The 33-year-old was rarely extended by his 153rd-ranked opponent and even found time to double up as a court sweeper when the match was briefly interrupted by rain.

Djokovic, like 12-time champion Rafa Nadal, has reached the fourth round without the loss of a set although things will toughen up with powerful Russian Karen Khachanov up next.

The 33-year-old Serb won the first set in 28 minutes and when he broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set a rare ‘triple bagel’ looked a possibility.

But Galan, a lucky loser from qualifying, got on the board with a rasping forehand winner which brought loud cheers from the small crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier.

With heavy rain falling and the new roof sliding slowly across, meaning Galan was exposed to the elements and Djokovic was not, the Serb ordered the chair umpire to halt play after his opponent slipped during a rally on the muddy baseline.

After groundsmen with wheelbarrows had spread more clay across the court to improve the slimy surface, a laughing Djokovic offered a hand, grabbing a sweeper, before resuming his day job with the roof closed.

Djokovic was surprised the roof had not been closed earlier.

“I saw the forecast and it didn’t look good at all,” he said. “If you have a roof, why not use it? I thought we lost quite a bit of time.”

He has certainly not been wasting any time so far in the French capital and once play resumed the outcome was never in doubt, although Galan did make the world number one work up a sweat with some courageous tennis of his own.

Djokovic, bidding for his second title at Roland Garros and 18th Grand Slam, saved four break points in a competitive third set before completing his 71st French Open match win, taking him past Roger Federer into second place behind Nadal who has 96. — Reuters

PARIS — Novak Djokovic’s relationship with line officials has been difficult of late and the Serbian risked their wrath again on Saturday when he suggested they were unnecessary.

The 33-year-old world number one was dramatically defaulted in the US Open fourth round after inadvertently hitting a female line judge on the throat with a loose ball.

Now he believes their job should be done by Hawkeye technology.

“With all my respect for the tradition and the culture we have in this sport, when it comes to people present on the court during a match, including line (judges), I really don’t see a reason why every single tournament in this world, in this technological advanced era, would not have what we had during the Cincinnati/New York tournaments,” Djokovic said.

The COVID-19 pandemic meant the majority of courts at the U.S. Open, part from the main show courts, dispensed with line judges as a health precaution.

They are back at the French Open which, because it is on clay, does not use Hawkeye technology for close calls, relying instead on the umpire to examine a mark in the red dust.

While the issue of whether players should be able to challenge via a Hawkeye review at the French Open and other claycourt events, as they do on other surfaces, has been debated all week here, Djokovic appears to want to go further.

“The technology is so advanced right now, there is absolutely no reason why you should keep line umpires on the court. That’s my opinion,” he said.

“Of course, I understand technology is expensive, so it’s an economic issue and a question mark. But I feel like we are all moving towards that, and sooner or later there is no reason to keep line umpires.

“Yes, ball kids? Of course. Ball person? Yes. But line umpires? I don’t see why anymore, to be honest,” he said before adding with a smile “I would also probably then have less chances to do what I did in New York.”

Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion, instead believes traditions should be respected.

“They can also have a HawkEye, you know, in clay court. That solves everything. But I feel it’s pretty traditional (now), and I’m a traditional person. I enjoy having, you know, line umpires and chair umpire. And I just like things the old way,” she said.

“You can put a HawkEye (in) and make it more modern, but I appreciate not being a machine on the court. (It would be) even more lonely out there just with us. A speaker that says i

The ATP’s Next Gen tournament has experimented with Hawkeye technology calling the lines using an automated voice rather than having officials on court. — Reuters