Staff Reporter.
@FrenchOpen,
Novak Djokovic ended Rafael Nadal’s reign at the French Open with a four-set win in a classic semi-final which will be ranked among the all-time great matches on the Roland Garros clay.
Serbian top seed Djokovic won 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 against Nadal, champion in each of the past four years.
Nadal, going for a record-extending 14th title, lost at Roland Garros for only the third time in 108 matches.
Djokovic, 34, must now recover to play Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final.
Fifth seed Tsitsipas must surely have been watching, like the rest of the tennis world was, as two of the all-time greats fought out a brutal battle for the right to face him in the showpiece.
“It was one of these matches you can remember forever. It was one of the top three matches in my life,” said Djokovic.
The high-quality match was full of drama and suspense, twists and turns, as it was played in front of 5,000 fans, who were allowed to stay despite France’s 11pm curfew as part of its coronavirus restrictions.
That decision came after a remarkable 98-minute third set which saw Djokovic hold his nerve to win a tie-break on which the whole match seemed to hinge.
Spaniard Nadal, 35, did break serve in the first game of the fourth set and led 2-0, but could not cope with Djokovic’s sky-high level as he quickly won the next six games to wrap up victory after more than four hours on court.
Djokovic looked shattered as he raised his arms in celebration, then wearily broke into a smile as he prepared for the on-court interview given by the winner.
“To win against Rafa on this court you have to play your best tennis, and tonight I played my best tennis,” said Djokovic, who could now win his 19th Grand Slam title to move one behind Nadal and Federer’s all-time record.
“It’s hard to find the words to sum up how I feel. You tell yourself there is no pressure but there is. Pressure is a privilege – to test my game and my character in matches like this.”
Djokovic’s victory extended his advantage in the head-to-head with Nadal, having claimed his 30th win in their men’s record 58th meeting.
Beating Nadal on the Roland Garros clay is widely considered one of the toughest tasks in sport, but if anyone was going to achieve that this year then it felt like Djokovic was the man to do it.
The world number one had been hitting cleanly and precisely throughout the tournament, moving well and playing aggressively on his way to the last four.