Rafael Nadal won in the early hours of a classic against longtime rival Novak Djokovic in four sets on Wednesday to reach his 15th semifinal of the French Open. The 13-time Roland Garros champion won the pair’s 59th meeting 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) after a four-hour, 12-minute quarter-final on a raucous Court Philippe chatrier.
Nadal sealed his eighth win in 10 French Open games against last year’s winner, Djokovic, to set up a last-four clash with third-seeded Alexander Zverev on Friday.
“I’m very emotional. For me it’s incredible to play here,” said Nadal. “This feeling is unbelievable for me.
“Playing against him is always a great challenge… To beat Novak there is only one way, to give your best from the first to the last point.”
The 35-year-old has lost just three of his 113 matches on the Parisian clay court since his title-winning debut in 2005 and now only follows Djokovic 30-29 in their career.
The Spaniard, fifth-placed, remains on track for a record-lengthening 22nd Grand Slam title after winning this year’s Australian Open, which Djokovic missed after he was deported from the country due to his Covid vaccination status.
Undoing a double break deficit, Djokovic took an 88-minute second set and missed two set points when he served for the fourth to force a decider.
The world number one will regret those missed opportunities as he waits until Wimbledon for his next chance to bring his Slam tally to 21.
“Congratulations Rafa, he was better in the important moments,” said Djokovic.
“He showed why he was a great champion. Well done to him and his team, he deserves it.”
Nadal was a slight underdog heading into the match after being brought to five sets by Felix Auger-Aliassime in the previous round.
The colder, slower conditions of the night session would also benefit Djokovic.
promoted
But the ‘King of clay’ crushed 57 winners in a signature performance to delight the crowd when he avenged his semi-final loss to the same opponent 12 months ago.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
