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Opinion
The top seed and the world number one Novak Djokovic played through pain in his quarter-final win over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta as he dropped his first set of the tournament en route to his four-set victory.
After losing the first set, the Serb won the next three to win the quarter-final 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to seal a spot in his tenth career semi-final at Roland Garros.
In the semi-final, the 17-time major champion will take on Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in what promises to be an explosive contest as an aggressive, hard-hitting youngster takes on a veteran, who has an immaculate defence.
While Tsitsipas survived a huge scare in his opening-round contest against Jaume Munar when he came back from being two sets to love down to win the match in five sets, his journey thereafter at this year’s French Open has been quite smooth sailing.
He was especially relentless in his quarter-final win over Andrey Rublev as he outclassed the 22-year-old Russian 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 to reach his second grand slam semi-final of his short career so far.
In their head-to-head record so far, the Serb marginally leads the young Greek 3-2. However, the upcoming semi-final encounter is going to be their first face-off at any major. In their only meeting on clay, it was Djokovic who pulled off a straight-sets victory against the Greek when the duo met in the final of the Madrid Masters 1000 last spring.
Tsitsipas, who idolises Roger Federer, has an aggressive serve and explosive game with a lethal single-handed backhand being his additional weapon.
Tsitsipas appears to be the man in form and hungry for success and if Djokovic shows any signs of dodginess or physical discomfort, after what happened in his quarter-final, the young Greek should aim to pounce on the slightest of opportunities to be in front to devoid Djokovic of any early momentum.
(Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
In his first ever grand slam semi-final appearance at the Australian Open in 2019, Tsitsipas wasn’t much competition to Rafael Nadal back then. But now, almost two years later, the young Greek is a much improved player and it would certainly take a solid effort from Djokovic to put the 22-year-old Greek away.
Djokovic is chasing history at this year’s French Open as he aims to become just the third man after Rod Laver and Roy Emerson to win each major at least twice.
While he was defaulted at the US Open last month, no one has been able to beat him so far this year and that would certainly be an additional motivation for the Serb as he hopes to move a step closer towards winning his 18th career major in Paris.
In the upcoming semi-final on Friday, can Tsitsipas emulate Dominic Thiem’s feat of 2019 and upset Djokovic or will the unyielding Djokovic stay in the hunt to get his second French Open title?
An interesting battle of generations awaits us on Court Philippe Chatrier in the second semi-final on Friday and it remains to be seen if the younger generation is finally ready to displace the older generation.
Prediction: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in five sets.
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