Novak Djokovic says he did not have “time to name the many injuries” he has after navigating his way through a tricky French Open encounter.

Spanish top seed Carlos Alcaraz also progressed with a 6-1 6-4 6-2 win over Canadian 26th seed Denis Shapovalov.

Alcaraz, 20, will play Lorenzo Musetti after he beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie.

Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev was knocked out by Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego after relinquishing a two-set lead in a five-set thriller.

Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was beaten by two-time champion Djokovic in the 2021 final, breezed past Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-2 6-2 6-3.

‘Sometimes you need help from the physios or the angels’

Third seed Djokovic, 36, looked uncomfortable at times against Davidovich Fokina, particularly in the third set after he had received treatment in a medical timeout at the end of the second.

But he came through to move a step closer to winning a record 23rd Grand Slam men’s singles title.

Djokovic is yet to drop a set at Roland Garros this year but came closer than he would have liked against Davidovich Fokina – a player he lost to on the Monte Carlo clay last year – with the first two sets going to tie-breaks and lasting more than three hours combined.

“Sometimes you need help from physio during the match,” said Djokovic.

“Sometimes you need pills. Sometimes you need help from the god or angels, or whoever. Sometimes you just have to deal with the reality.”

Asked if he was concerned about his physical state, he added: “We don’t have much time to start to name the many injuries I have, and the list is quite long.

“I don’t want to sit here and talk about these things that are not preventing me from playing. I still kept on playing. These are the circumstances that you, as a professional athlete, have to deal with. Accept it.

“The reality for me nowadays is my body is responding differently than it did few years ago.”

It is in Paris that Davidovich Fokina, ranked 34th in the world, has enjoyed his best success at a Grand Slam, reaching the quarter-finals in 2021, and he came out swinging against Djokovic with big hits and sublime drop shots causing all sorts of trouble for the former world number one.

After edging a first set in which he was twice a break down, made four double faults and received a time violation, Djokovic saved set point in the second before squeezing past his opponent in a second tie-break and then celebrating wildly.

He then received treatment but still dominated the remainder of the match to end Davidovich Fokina’s hopes of an upset.

Djokovic, through to the fourth round for the 14th successive year, will face Polish 13th seed Hubert Hurkacz or Peru’s Juan Pablo Varillas next.

Rublev exits in Sonego’s ‘most difficult win’

It was a shock defeat for Russia’s world number seven Rublev, who has reached the quarter-finals in his last three Grand Slam appearances.

World number 48 Sonego will play 11th seed Karen Khachanov next.

After losing the first two sets, Sonego started playing more aggressively and pulled back the third set before winning a tie-break in the fourth to force a decider.

He broke Rublev’s serve to go 5-4 up and serve for the match, sealing it when the Russian volleyed into the net on Sonego’s first match point.

The victory is Sonego’s first against a top-10 player at a Grand Slam, while it is the first time Rublev has been defeated after being 2-0 up.

“I think I played my best tennis this year,” Sonego said. “There was a lot of things in my mind, but I tried to stay focused every point and enjoy the moment.

“I think this is the most difficult win of my career, for sure.”

Earlier on Friday, Russia’s Khachanov came through his third-round match in four sets, beating Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4 6-1 3-6 7-6 (7-5).