Rafael Nadal downs Novak Djokovic in late-night epic to reach 15th French Open semi-final | Tennis News

PARIS: Rafael Nadal overcome a classic late night battle against an old opponent Novak Djokovic in the early hours of Wednesday in four sets to reach his 15th French Open semi-final.
13 times Roland Garros the champion won the pair’s 59th meeting of the pair’s careers 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) after a lengthy quarter-final four hours 12 minutes on a noisy Court Philippe Chatrier.
Nadal had his eighth win in 10 French Open matches against last year’s winner Djokovic at 1:16 a.m. local time (2316 GMT Tuesday) to set up a final four-man clash with the third seed Alexander Zverev on Friday.

“I’m very emotional. For me, it’s unbelievable to play here,” said Nadal.
“Going against him is always an incredible challenge… To win against Novak, there’s only one way, play hard from the first point to the last.”
The 35-year-old has lost just three of his 113 matches on Paris clay since his title-winning debut in 2005 and is now only 30-29 behind Djokovic in career head-to-head records.
The Spaniard, the fifth seed, remains on top of his record-long 22nd Grand Slam title after lifting this year’s Australian Open, something Djokovic missed out on after being expelled from the country for Covid vaccination status.

Djokovic overturned his double-break shortfall to get a second set of 88 minutes and missed two set points when serving for the fourth round to force the decider.
The world number one will ignore missed opportunities while he waits until Wimbledon for the next chance to bring his total number of Slams to 21.
“Congratulations Rafahe was better in the key moments,” said Djokovic.
“He showed why he is a great champion. Well done to him and his team, he deserves it.”
Nadal was a bit underrated heading into the match after being sent five sets by Felix Auger-Aliassime in the previous round and he even hinted that this could be his last appearance in Paris. due to persistent foot injury.

The colder and slower conditions of the night trading session are also said to be in Djokovic’s favor.
But ‘King of Clay’ beat 57 winners in a trademark performance to the delight of the audience as he avenged his semi-final loss to the same opponent 12 months ago.
The audience quickly realized that they wouldn’t be disappointed, because Nadal break in a tough 10-minute opening game before saving two break points to take a 3-1 lead.
A crushing forehand goal in the fifth game gave Nadal a double break and he continued to serve with relative ease, ending his opponent’s 22-set winning streak.
The first game of the second set was even longer than the first, but the result was the same as Nadal taking his sixth break point.

A string of unwarranted mistakes from Djokovic and Nadal’s easy goal on the net sent the defending champion split in two once again.
Djokovic finally got his first break point when Nadal hit a drop, before winning another grueling return game – in which Nadal was cautioned for a time violation – on his fifth break point. his to level the set.
Opportunities came and went for both players, but Nadal fired long enough for Djokovic to score the second set in the 10th game.
Even so, Nadal engaged and broke the teamfight in the first game of the third set in a row.

Djokovic saw another break point come and go before giving up his own serve again to slide above 4-1.
Nadal took a two-set-one lead in game eight as Djokovic exploded in the second set, as the clock ticked past midnight and shivering fans grabbed blankets to keep warm.
Djokovic missed a simple shot early in the fourth set and plunged straight into the net in frustration, prompting shrill boos from the crowd.
The top seed immediately regrouped and broke serve to take a 2-0 lead when a hotly contested pass went in his favor.

Djokovic had the opportunity to make the match the demarcation in his own serve.
But Nadal saved two set points before claiming a second break point with a forehand winner.
Nadal started quickly in the crucial tie-break to take a 6-1 advantage.
Djokovic saved three points in the match, but Nadal crossed the line on the fourth question.