Novak Djokovic is in the final of Paris. © APA / afp / MARTIN BUREAU
Novak Djokovic has reached the final of the French Open after a world-class performance against clay court king Rafael Nadal.
11. June 2021
The Serbian world number one defeated the 13-time Paris champion in a high-class duel on Friday evening with 3: 6, 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 4), 6: 2 and thus followed Stefanos Tsitsipas into the final. The Greek had previously defeated Alexander Zverev 6: 3, 6: 3, 4: 6, 4: 6, 6: 3. For Nadal it was only the third defeat in the 108th game in Paris.
Nadal and Djokovic fought an epic fight on the Philippe-Chatrier court. First, the Spaniard marched ahead and won the first set 6: 3. But Djokovic was not deterred and managed to balance the sentences. What followed was probably one of the best sentences in tennis history. For 92 minutes, the two superstars showed one world-class rally after the other. Every point was so hard-fought as if it was already about winning the tournament.
Organizers whistle about curfew
In the end, Djokovic won the third round 7: 4 in the tie-break. After that, due to the advanced time, there should have been a break to send the viewers home because the curfew was about to begin at 11 p.m. But the organizers decided, to the cheers of the fans, not to vacate the arena. The audience thanked it with the loud singing of the Marseillaise – there was a festive mood in the Stade Roland Garros.
Djokovic let the atmosphere push him further. Nadal managed a quick break in the fourth set, but then the Serb could not be stopped. After 4:10 hours he used his second match ball.
Author: dpa / det
