Djokovic hopes for Paris win to salute ‘incredible’ coach

Gencic spotted Djokovic’s talent as a six-year-old in Serbia and remained an important person throughout his life.

She died of a heart attack on Saturday, and Djokovic’s team kept the news from him until after he had beaten Grigor Dimitrov because they knew it would hit him hard.

The world No 1 immediately cancelled his press commitments but spoke movingly and eloquently after beating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the fourth round yesterday.

Djokovic said: “It hasn’t been easy, but this is life. Life gives you things, takes away close people in your life, and Jelena was my first coach, like my second mother.

“We were very close throughout my whole life, and she taught me a lot of things that are part of me, part of my character today, and I have the nicest memories of her.

“This is something that will stay forever and hopefully I will be able to continue on and follow up where she stopped with her legacy, because she left so much knowledge to me and to the people that were close to her.

“She never got married, she never had kids, so tennis was all she had in life.

“She was 77 years old, and before she passed away two days ago, last week she was giving lessons to kids.

“She’s one of the most incredible people I ever knew.”

The French Open is the only grand slam title Djokovic has not yet won and yesterday he had to come from a set down in cool and windy conditions to defeat German Kohlschreiber 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.

In the last eight Djokovic will meet Tommy Haas, who reached his first quarter-final at Roland Garros at the age of 35 with a thumping 6-1 6-1 6-3 victory over Mikhail Youzhny.

Rafael Nadal has been below par so far this tournament, but he chose his 27th birthday to show more of the form that has brought him seven titles at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard’s fearsome forehand had more bite and his movement was sharper as he dispatched Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4 6-1 6-3.

The best match of the day on paper looked to be Stanislas Wawrinka against Richard Gasquet, and it certainly did not disappoint, with a combined 149 winners hit.

Wawrinka eventually came through 6-7 (5/7) 4-6 6-4 7-5 8-6 in four hours and 16 minutes.

Defending women’s champion Maria Sharapova reached the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-3 victory over 20-year-old American Sloane Stephens.

Sharapova will next play Jelena Jankovic, whose resurgence continued with a 6-0 6-2 victory over America’s Jamie Hampton.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who beat former French Open champion Li Na in round two, led 4-1 against 12th seed Maria Kirilenko, but the Russian fought back to win 7-5 6-4 and will face third seed Victoria Azarenka in the quarter-finals.