Djokovic dethrones Nadal, takes on Greek Tsitsipas
Paris, June 12
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic said his win over Rafael Nadal in Friday’s epic French Open semifinal contest was akin to climbing Mount Everest.
After dethroning King of Clay Nadal, a 13-time champion here, Djokovic will next face a first-time Grand Slam finalist in Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday. Djokovic will be bidding to become the first man in the open era to win all four Majors at least twice. “The amount of wins that he has made on this court is incredible. Each time you step on the court with him, you know that you have to kind of climb Mount Everest to win,” Djokovic said after beating Nadal 3-6 6-3 7-6(4) 6-2.
Djokovic said it was one of the top three matches he had played in his life. The 34-year-old Serb lost the opening five games but hit back in magnificent fashion to win in front of a raucous Court Philippe Chatrier crowd.
“Definitely the best match that I was part of at Roland Garros, and top three matches that I ever played in my entire career,” Djokovic told said after inflicting only a third-ever French Open defeat on champion Nadal. “One of these nights and matches you will remember forever,” added Djokovic. The omens did not look good for Djokovic when he went 0-5 down in the first set despite playing well. It had horrible similarities to last year’s final which he lost to the Spaniard 6-0 6-2 7-5, only this time he wrenched back control.
“The beginning of the match was kind of resembling last year’s final,” Djokovic said. “I was not too nervous though even if I was 0-5 down because the feeling was different from last year’s final, because I was just hitting the ball better and feeling better overall. I just kind of found my rhythm, found my groove. There was no looking back. Even though I lost the first set, I found my game. Things started to work out really nicely.”
Djokovic saved a set point at 5-6 in a pivotal third set full of spellbinding rallies before taking the tiebreak. He then reeled off the last six games of the match to take his record over career-long rival Nadal to 30-28. —Reuters
