Novak Djokovic leads been-there-done-that crew at wild French Open

PARIS — Surprising results and “Who is that?” stories abound as this one-of-these-is-not-like-the-others French Open heads to the fourth round — with a wild-card entry, a pair of qualifiers and the group of men and women who keep advancing in their tournament debuts.

And then there are the known quantities still around, the been-there-done-that crew, led by No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic, who reached the round of 16 for the 11th consecutive year, equaling a record held by his Big Three rivals, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Forget the idea of an early upset or even slightest upstaging of Djokovic. He is outclassing opponents and making every contest uncompetitive, yet again ceding merely five games — as he has each time out so far on this trip to Roland Garros — in a 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 victory Saturday over 153rd-ranked Daniel Elahi Galan.

“If you impose yourself from the very beginning on the court, which I have in those first three matches here,” said Djokovic, who is 34-1 in 2020 as he bids for a second French Open championship and 18th Grand Slam title in all, “then it makes it hard for them to really believe that they can come back and make a turnaround in the match.”

The second-seeded Nadal, a 12-time titlist in Paris, and No. 3 Dominic Thiem, the runner-up to him the previous two years, both play in the fourth round Sunday against 20-year-old opponents ranked outside the top 200.

Daniel Altmaier, a 22-year-old German who is ranked 186th, and never had participated in a Grand Slam tournament until qualifying for this one, hasn’t dropped a set through three matches, including a 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4 humbling of No. 7 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy.

Monday’s women’s matchups established Saturday: Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin against Fiona Ferro; two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova...