Men’s Semifinals Set at French Open

October 8, 2020 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Tsitsipas_web
Photo Credit: Darren Carroll

 

There are just four men remaining in the French Open singles draw as the tournament’s semifinals were finalized on Wednesday, with 12-time champion Rafael Nadal as well as top-seeded Novak Djokovic leading the way.

Djokovic claimed the fourth and final spot in the semifinals with a four-set victory over Spain’s Pablo Carreno-Busta on Wednesday. The Serb fought through a left arm injury to defeat Carreno-Busta 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the Roland Garros final four for the 10th time in his career.

“I definitely didn’t feel great coming into the court today. Few things happened in the warm-up. I had to deal with those physical issues coming onto the court,” said Djokovic. “As the match went on, I felt better, didn’t feel as much pain…But I don’t want to take anything from his good performance. Especially for a set and a half, he was the better player, dictating the play.”

Djokovic would work himself into the match, and dominated the final two sets to set up a matchup with Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, who earlier in the day rolled past Russia’s Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-2, 6-3.

On Tuesday, 12th seeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman outlasted recent U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem in a thrilling five-set affair in a match that lasted more than five hours. By virtue of his win, Schwartzman gets to face Nadal, who defeated young Italian Jannik Sinner 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1 on Tuesday night.

“I’m going to play aggressive, try to do something a little bit different than what I did in Rome, of course,” Nadal said of Schwartzman. “Hope to be ready to play my best. That’s what I need. That’s what I am looking for. I am going to give my best until the end.”

 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
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