|
The 13-time Roland Garros champion, beaten by the world number
one in the semi-finals here last year, arrived in Paris on the
back of two injuries that had hampered his preparations.
Having already survived a five-set thriller against Felix Auger
Aliassime in the previous round, the Spaniard, who has only lost
three times at the French Open since his first campaign in 2005,
knows every inch of the immense court Philippe Chatrier and
Djokovic paid for the reminder.
The Serbian is still stuck at 20 Grand Slam titles after being
barred from taking part in the Australian Open by local
authorities over his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19
- a major that Nadal won.
On the day teenager Carlos Alcaraz, who has been widely tipped
as his successor, was knocked out, Nadal threw the punches and
had defending champion Djokovic on the ropes in a high octane
start under the spotlights.
Djokovic fought back in an 88-minute second set but the
35-year-old Nadal, backed by a partisan crowd, found the
resources to end it in four sets despite being a break down in
the fourth and set up a meeting with German third seed Alexander
Zverev for a place in Sunday's final.
Zverev beat Alcaraz in four sets earlier.
MAGIC NIGHT
"It's a very emotional moment for me. Thank you everyone. It's
incredible, the support I get from you. Everyone knows how
important it is for me to play here. It's the most important
tournament of my career," Nadal said on court after the
four-hour-12-minute tug of war.
"Very tough match. Djokovic is one of the best players in
history. Playing against him is always a big challenge. Against
him there's only one way to play - at your best level from the
first point to the last.
"And today was a magic night for me. Unexpected level from me."
A 10-minute opening game, won by Nadal on Djokovic's serve, set
the tone of the clash of the heavyweights.
"Rafa, Rafa!" the crowd chanted.
He broke a second time with a trademark forehand winner down the
line before wrapping up the first set on serve when Djokovic
made his ninth unforced error.
The Serbian fell 3-0 behind in the second, but a poorly-executed
drop shot by Nadal allowed him to pull a break back.
A smile appeared on Djokovic's face. In a key 18-minute sixth
game, Djokovic broke again on his fifth attempt when Nadal's
backhand went wide.
He faced a break point in the following game but Nadal was
playing too short and the Serbian bagged his fourth consecutive
gale in a spectacular turnaround.
Nadal just managed to hold for 4-4 but cracked on serve at 5-4
as Djokovic levelled the match.
The Mallorcan, however, started the third set in similar fashion
as the first, racing to a 4-1 lead and wrapping it up on yet
another unforced error from Djokovic.
In a see-saw contest, Djokovic regained the upper hand to open a
3-0 lead in the fourth set but Nadal would not go into a fifth
set, breaking back for 4-5 before forcing a tiebreak in which he
gave his opponent no chance.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly and
Chris Reese)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
