PARIS -- The working relationship between Novak Djokovic and Andre Agassi is new enough that they're still ironing out the details -- including just when and where Agassi can squeeze him in. For now, they are taking it one major at a time, and Agassi has committed to be at the next one.
Interest in Agassi's itinerary is so high that his upcoming presence at Wimbledon in July became a story on an afternoon when Djokovic was still trying to get to the second week in Paris.
Agassi originally planned to leave before Djokovic's third-round French Open match Friday but apparently reshuffled his plans. He appeared in the defending champion's box at Philippe Chatrier during a changeover, with Djokovic down a set and feisty opponent Diego Schwartzman of Argentina about to serve in the second. Djokovic saw the entrance on the big videoboard along with everyone else, and went on to win the game and the set.
It would be absurd to divide Djokovic's current game -- on this day or any day -- as Before Andre and After Andre. True, Djokovic did not backslide into the erratic form he showed in the first set, in which he committed 21 unforced errors. But he allowed Schwartzman back into the match and indulged in a loud disagreement with chair umpire Carlos Ramos before pulling away in the late going of a five-setter, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Being pushed that hard by the No. 41 player in the world might seem to be a reason for concern, but Djokovic declared himself mentally "strong and calm as I could be,'' never fearing he wouldn't come out ahead. He credited Schwartzman for playing well but also noted that the damp conditions slowed things down to the 5-foot-7 player's advantage.
Djokovic even said he found positives in being on court for more than three hours after two previous straight-set wins. "I didn't play too many of the five-setters the last couple of years,'' he said. "I see a lot of good things in it.''
Belief can have a placebo effect on an athlete of Djokovic's caliber, so there's not much choice but to take him at face value. And he has a track record here that would support optimism. Friday's win, his 58th at Roland Garros, tied Djokovic with Argentine great Guillermo Vilas, with only the absent Roger Federer (65) and nine-time champion Rafael Nadal (75) ahead of him.
However, Nadal's belief is also spiking, and the Spanish master has put his foot on the throat of every match thus far as he charges through the same half of the men's draw. Nadal annihilated 63rd-ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili on Friday, giving up just one game to the Georgian player and walking off the court in half the time it took Djokovic to dispatch Schwartzman.
Djokovic wants no part of the contrast. "I am who I am, and I'm happy with that,'' he said to end his postmatch news conference.