Paris, Oct 10 : World no.1 Novak Djokovic survived a fightback from fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in their French Open semi-final to book a title clash against the rampant Rafael Nadal. Djokovic beat Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6 in a match that lasted three hours and 54 minutes.
This was the fourth time in Djokovic’s career where he was taken to five sets in the semi-final stage at Roland-Garros.
A double break helped Djokovic take command of the second set and a late break in the third saw him serve for the match at 5-4.
Tsitsipas clung on though, saving a match point before breaking his opponent to draw level, finally converting a break point for the first time in the whole contest, on his 11th opportunity. Djokovic saved set point in game 12 but a sensational Tsitsipas down-the-line forehand winner saw the 22-year-old break again to force a fourth set.
Tsitsipas claimed a fifth game in a row to leap to a 2-0 advantage in the fourth set. But that just prompted Djokovic to snatch the momentum right back as he drew level. From 40-15 up, Djokovic got broken in the 10th game on a netted drop shot attempt to enter a deciding set against Tsitsipas.
He was quick to reverse the momentum in the fifth. Djokovic raced to a double-break lead in the decider and wrapped up the win in three hours and 54 minutes.
Djokovic is chasing an 18th Grand Slam title while Nadal is chasing his 20th.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.