Top seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic and 5th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, will battle in their semi-final at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris. Djokovic advanced courtesy of a four-set win over 17th seed, Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, late Wednesday night.
Tsitsipas got the better of 13th seed, Andrey Rublev of Russia, in straight sets.
The women’s semi-finals will take place later on Thursday.
Djokovic is aiming for an 18th grand slam title. He initially seemed out of sorts against Carreno Busta.
He received treatment on his left bicep in the first set and seemed to be in pain throughout.
It was no surprise then, when the Spaniard bagged the opening set, 6-4. True to form, however, Djokovic refused to go away.
His injury niggles seemed less of an issue as the match went on and the Serb fought back to clinch the next three sets and the match to advance to his 10th semi-final in Paris and the last four of a grand slam for the 38th time.
“It wasn’t easy, you know, growing up in a war-torn country and without any tennis guidance or tennis tradition, really. And to succeed in this beautiful sport, it means a lot to me. I try to be conscience of every achievement be grateful for it and put things in perspective,” Djokovic said.
Nole never in doubt.@DjokerNole fills the final spot in the semi-finals 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4 over Carreno Busta.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/8NiH5Emd41
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) October 7, 2020
Earlier, Tsitsipas was in fine form against danger man, Rublev who had won both their previous meetings; the last being the Hamburg final less than two weeks ago.
Tsitsipas started slowly, but managed to win the first set 7-5 in 48 minutes. From then on, it was plain sailing.
He bagged the next two 6-2, 6-3 to reach his second grand slam semi-final of his career.
“It’s also about fighting and trying to find solutions in difficult moments and I managed to put my brain into work and find solutions to this difficult tasks that I have to complete,” Tsitsipas said.
The men’s semi-finals will be decided on Friday.
Stefanos Tsitsipas rolled past Rublev to make a first #RolandGarros semi-finals.
Catch the highlights presented by @Emirates#FlyEmiratesFlyBetter #BackInTheGame pic.twitter.com/VfRDSvKmqx
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) October 7, 2020
