{"id":78526,"date":"2022-06-01T14:02:15","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T14:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=78526"},"modified":"2022-06-01T14:02:15","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T14:02:15","slug":"nadal-downs-djokovic-in-late-night-epic-to-reach-15th-french-open-semi-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=78526","title":{"rendered":"Nadal downs Djokovic in late-night epic to reach 15th French Open semi-final"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Sports Desk:<\/strong> Rafael Nadal edged a late-night classic against old rival Novak Djokovic in the early hours of Wednesday in four sets to reach his 15th French Open semi-final.<\/p>\n

The 13-time Roland Garros champion won the pair's 59th career meeting 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7\/4) after a four-hour-and-12-minute quarter-final on a raucous Court Philippe Chatrier.<\/p>\n

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Nadal sealed his eighth victory in 10 French Open matches against last year's winner Djokovic at 1:16 am local time (2316 GMT Tuesday) to set up a last-four clash with third seed Alexander Zverev on Friday.<\/p>\n

“I'm very emotional. For me it's incredible to play here,” said Nadal.<\/p>\n

“Playing against him is always an amazing challenge… To win against Novak, there is only one way, to play your best from the first point until the last.”<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old has lost just three of his 113 matches on the Paris clay since his 2005 title-winning debut and now only trails Djokovic 30-29 in their career head-to-head.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard, seeded fifth, remains on course for a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title after lifting this year's Australian Open, which Djokovic missed after being deported from the country over his Covid vaccination status.<\/p>\n

Djokovic overturned a double-break deficit to take an 88-minute second set and missed two set points when serving for the fourth to force a decider.<\/p>\n

The world number one will rue those missed chances while he waits until Wimbledon for his next opportunity to take his Slam tally to 21.<\/p>\n

“Congratulations to Rafa, he was better in the important moments,” said Djokovic.<\/p>\n

“He showed why he was a great champion. Well done to him and his team, he deserves it.”<\/p>\n

Nadal was a slight underdog heading into the match after being taken to five sets in the previous round by Felix Auger-Aliassime and he had even hinted it could be his last appearance in Paris due to a persistent foot injury.<\/p>\n

The colder, slower conditions of the night session were also expected to favour Djokovic.<\/p>\n

But the ‘King of clay' smashed 57 winners in a trademark performance to delight the crowd as he gained revenge for his semi-final loss to the same opponent 12 months ago.<\/p>\n

– Nadal makes fast start –<\/p>\n

The spectators quickly realised they were not going to be disappointed, as Nadal broke in a bruising 10-minute opening game before saving two break points to open a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n

A crushing forehand winner in the fifth game gave Nadal a double break and he went on to serve out the opener with relative ease, ending his opponent's winning run of 22 sets.<\/p>\n

The first game of the second set was even longer than the first, but the result was the same as Nadal took his sixth break point.<\/p>\n

A string of unforced errors from Djokovic and Nadal's cute winner at the net saw the reigning champion a double break behind again.<\/p>\n

Djokovic finally took a break point for the first time when Nadal netted a drop shot, before winning another gruelling return game — in which Nadal was given a warning for a time violation — on his fifth break point to level the set.<\/p>\n

Opportunities came and went for both players, but Nadal fired long as Djokovic took his second set point in the 10th game.<\/p>\n

Nadal came out fighting though and broke, to love, in the first game for the third successive set.<\/p>\n

Djokovic saw another break point come and go before giving up his own serve again to slip 4-1 adrift.<\/p>\n

Nadal served out for a two-sets-to-one lead in game eight as Djokovic blazed wide on the second set point, with the clock ticking past midnight and shivering fans reaching for blankets to keep warm.<\/p>\n

Djokovic missed a simple shot early in the fourth set and lashed out at the net in frustration, drawing deafening boos from the crowd.<\/p>\n

The top seed immediately refocused though and broke serve for a 2-0 lead when a hotly-contested line call went in his favour.<\/p>\n

Djokovic had the chance to send the match into a decider on his own serve.<\/p>\n

But Nadal saved two set points before gobbling up a second break point with a trademark forehand winner.<\/p>\n

Nadal made a rapid start to the crucial tie-break to race into a 6-1 advantage.<\/p>\n

Djokovic managed to save three of the match points, but Nadal got over the line at the fourth time of asking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports Desk: Rafael Nadal edged a late-night classic against old rival Novak Djokovic in the early hours of Wednesday in four sets to reach his 15th French Open semi-final. The 13-time Roland Garros champion won the pair’s 59th career meeting 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7\/4) after a four-hour-and-12-minute quarter-final on a raucous Court Philippe Chatrier. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":78527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n