Novak Djokovic and Pablo Carreno Busta gave fans a compelling showdown on Wednesday, as the top seed dropped his first set of the tournament before locking in a 10th Roland-Garros semi-final berth with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win.
Last time out, Novak Djokovic was defaulted for hitting a match official with the ball in the US Open event and Carreno automatically won the match but the Serb finally had the chance to right his wrong.
Pablo Carreno Busta, on the other hand, gave a good account of himself pulling the match to about 3 hours and 13 minutes, stretching the world No. 1 to his longest match of the tournament so far.
Watch the match highlights below
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Djokovic appeared to struggle physically during the match and donned tape to the back of his neck from the outset.
The neck issues came about in August at the Western & Southern Open while he also repeatedly tugged at his left bicep during the first hour of the match. He also shook his left arm more than once.
Trainer Paul Ness visited Djokovic after the first set and early in the second, though the world No.1 never took a medical time-out but later confirmed the neck and shoulder were bothering him.
“Well, I definitely didn’t feel great coming into the court today,” the Serb says.
“Few things happened in the warm-up. I had to deal with those physical issues coming onto the court. As the match went on, I felt better, didn’t feel as much pain.
“But I don’t want to take away anything from his good performance. Especially for a set and a half, he was the better player, dictating the play. I was very neutral. I didn’t have much energy really happening in my legs or movement or the game itself.”
Djokovic will next face Greece’s sixth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-finals. Stefanos Tsitsipas has managed to win twice in five meetings with the Serb.
Stefanos Tsitsipas fairytale run continues with win over Andrey Rublev
No.5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas gained revenge for the loss to Russian No.13 seed Andrey Rublev recently in the final at Hamburg, dismissing his opponent 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 to clinch a maiden Roland-Garros semi-final on Wednesday.
The Greek won 16 of the final 21 games to race to victory in one hour and 55 minutes. Tsitsipas has now succeeded in winning 15 consecutive sets since falling behind by two sets to Spain’s Jaume Munar in the first round.
Watch the match highlights below
Tsitsipas was among the Next Gen of Tennis players and he’s never falling short as the Greek continues to probe for that much-coveted Grand Slam breakthrough.
Dominic Thiem, who is also from the Next Gen player, made his breakthrough as he won the US Open trophy last month and Tsitsipas must have gotten a cue from watching Thiem soar.
“I’m happy to be playing well enough, also to be part of something so special. Not Next Gen anymore. We are all young. I guess you can call it that way,” explains the ATP finals champion.
“Dominic inspires me a lot. What Dominic has achieved is amazing. Being able to have back-to-back finals here at the French is truly inspiring. Dominic is someone that makes me understand the game and makes me want to push even further to reach what he has reached.
“He’s a nice guy off the court. Big workaholic on the court. He’s very balanced, he’s a very passionate person in every aspect. We’re good friends. I think I can learn a lot from him and add it to my game. From the young guys, he’s someone that I really look up to.”
Novak looking stronger by the day.
Novak Djokovic probably will win this tournament. Will love to see watch him and Nadal
rooting for tsitsipas!!