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Novak Djokovic Y Rafael NadalWith 36 Grand Slam titles between them, they are just two wins away from creating more tennis history at Roland Garros, but they get in the way in Friday’s semi-finals. Stefanos Tsitsipas Y Diego schwartzman.
Tsitsipas is the first Greek player to reach the quarter-finals in Paris, while the diminutive Argentine has put the sport in perspective this week with his moving story of how his great-grandfather survived the Holocaust.
Head to head: Djokovic leads 3-2
– Djokovic is chasing a second Roland Garros title and an 18th Grand Slam to become the first man in half a century to win the four majors twice. It’s such a rare achievement that only Don Budge and Rod Laver have ever accomplished it in the history of the sport.
The world number one has four titles in 2020, garnered from 36 wins and just one loss, his now infamous flaw at the US Open.
However, is the pressure starting to show? He lost his first set of the tournament in his victory over Pablo Carreño Busta in the quarterfinals and required neck and shoulder treatment.
“I had some neck and shoulder problems. I really don’t want to get too involved. I feel good,” said the 33-year-old who was champion in Paris in 2016.
Djokovic is attempting to reach the final for the fifth time and 27th at the Slams.
Tsitsipas, 22, who is playing in his second semi-final in the majors and also reached the quarter-finals at the 2019 Australian Open, has grown stronger as the tournament has progressed.
After losing the first two sets of his first match against Jaume Munar, he has swept the next 15.
Tsitsipas aims to become the youngest man to reach the Roland Garros final since 2008, when Nadal won the title, and the youngest to reach a Grand Slam championship match since the 2009 US Open, when Juan Martín del Colt won the title, 10 days after his 21st birthday.
The Greek has only faced Djokovic once on clay, a straight sets loss in the 2019 Madrid final.
“An opponent is an opponent. It doesn’t matter if he’s injured or not,” Tsitsipas said of Djokovic.
Djokovic added: “Stefanos is one of the best players in the world. He has a complete game. He’s a big guy, great serve. He has weapons, obviously serve and forehand, his backhand. He produces a lot of spin. He gets into the net. He can play aggressively. He can defend well because he moves well. “
Djokovic
1st rd: bt Mikael Ymer (SWE) 6-0, 6-2, 6-3
2nd: bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2
3rd rd: bt Daniel Galán (COL) 6-0, 6-3, 6-2
4th: bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x15) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3
QF: bt Pablo Carreño Busta (ESP x17) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
Tsitsipas
1st rd: bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
2nd rd: bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
3rd rd: bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-1, 6-2, 3-1 – retired
4th: bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x18) 6-3, 7-6 (11/9), 6-2
QF: bt Andrey Rublev (RUS x13) 7-5, 6-2, 6-3
Head to head: Nadal leads 9-1
– Nadal, the 12-time champion, came to Paris practically ruling out his chances of equaling Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles.
However, the 34-year-old is on the brink of the thirteenth final at Roland Garros without dropping a set and having spent three and a half hours less than Schwartzman to reach the semi-finals.
He remains cautious about his chances of a tournament being played in the cold and cold of fall instead of its traditional May-June schedule and, after finishing his quarter-finals against Jannik Sinner at 01:30 on Wednesday Tomorrow, he said it was “dangerous”. for the body in these harsh conditions. “
Nadal’s night on Tuesday was mainly due to Schwartzman needing more than five hours to defeat US Open champion and third seed Dominic Thiem in five sets to reach his first major league semi-final.
By contrast, Nadal is in his 34th.
However, Schwartzman will be encouraged by defeating Nadal for the first time in 10 attempts on clay in Rome on the eve of Roland Garros.
Affectionately known as “El Peque” (“shorty”), Schwartzman, 28, measures just 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) and is the smallest player in the top 50 in the world.
“I was perfect today. I think I’m going to be perfect in the semi-finals,” said Schwartzman, who won his first Grand Slam in the quarter-finals after three previous failures.
Schwartzman
1st: bt Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 6-0, 6-1, 6-3
2nd: bt Lorenzo Giustino (ITA) 6-1, 7-5, 6-0
3rd round: bt Norbert Gombos (SVK) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-3
4th: bt Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 6-1, 6-3, 6-4
QF: by Dominic Thiem (AUT x3) 7-6 (7/1), 5-7, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2
Nadal
1st rd: bt Egor Gerasimov (BLR) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
2nd: bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-1, 6-0, 6-3
3rd: bt Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 6-1, 6-4, 6-0
4th: bt Sebastian Korda (USA) 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
QF: bt Jannik Sinner (ITA) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-1
