[ad_1]
Top seed Novak Djokovic withstood a valiant comeback from Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to set up a French Open final against rival Rafael Nadal on Sunday.
Djokovic, 33, missed a match point in the third set before finally winning 6-3 6-2 5-7 4-6 6-1 at Roland Garros.
The Serb missed another match point in what was the final game before breaking a forehand to cross the line.
Nadal, who is looking for a title 13, defeated Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
The top two seeds in the men’s draw will meet for the 56th time in their careers (no two men have met more) and the ninth time in a Grand Slam final.
The match could also be instrumental in the long battle between Djokovic, Nadal and Swiss rival Roger Federer to determine which man ends up with the most Grand Slam titles.
If Nadal lifts the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy one more time, he will see him match Federer’s all-time leading record of 20 men’s majors.
Djokovic, whose only win at Roland Garros came in 2016, knows a win will move him to 18, one more to Nadal and two to Federer, 39.
Better late than never for Djokovic
When Djokovic first served the match against Tsitsipas, no one would have predicted the drama that followed.
It looked like it was going to be another clinical win for the world number one by virtue of maintaining courage on the most important points and executing his shots to perfection.
Despite trailing by two sets to love, Tsitsipas had not played poorly and the even stats, in terms of service, unforced errors and winners, backed him up.
The biggest problem for the Greek was not taking advantage of his opportunities with Djokovic’s serve. He couldn’t convert any of the seven break points in the first two sets.
After failing to count three more, he finally rectified it, crucially, by seizing his 11th chance when Djokovic served for the match.
That caused a shift in momentum. Tsitsipas broke into Djokovic’s next service game to claim the set and again early in the quarter.
Suddenly Djokovic became nervous, illustrated by his complaints about movement and noise in the sparse crowd, and was only able to take one of his 11 break points as a tense series progressed.
The Serbian squeezed again and lost serve 40-15 up in the tenth game, ensuring a passionate match throughout the distance.
Tsitsipas won from two sets less for the first time in his career in a first-round match against Spaniard Jaume Munar 10 days earlier, while Djokovic had previously lost only one of the 216 Grand Slam matches in which he won the first two. sets.
Something in those contrasting records had to give.
With Tsitsipas looking frazzled after his physical efforts to counter, Djokovic made sure he would never slip from that position again by taking control of the decider.
Tsitsipas rallied again after saving a second match point before Djokovic scored a forehand goal to seal the victory on the third down, one hour and 47 minutes after his first match point.
The case to make Djokovic the favorite for the final
While Nadal has an unrivaled history at Roland Garros, it is justified to suggest that Djokovic is in superior form heading into Sunday’s final.
Despite the fact that Djokovic has lost three sets during the fortnight in Paris, unlike Nadal, he has regularly played at a high level that even the Spaniard would have a hard time containing.
The form of the Spaniard’s victories has not been all that impressive, while Djokovic has outscored tougher opponents at Russian 15th seed Karen Khachanov, Spanish 17th seed Pablo Carreño Busta and now Tsitsipas in the later stages.
Plus, Djokovic has the added benefit of the added boost he’s gotten over the past few months.
Djokovic won all 36 matches he completed in 2020, and his only loss came when he was ejected from that infamous fourth round US Open match against Carreño Busta.
Nadal did not go to New York due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic and as a result has only played nine games since March.
Fundamentally, there seems to be an extra sharpness and toughness to Djokovic’s game.
Even though he wasn’t as clinical against Tsitsipas as he seemed to be, the way he kept his cool to control the Greek’s fight and win the decisive match adds more weight to the idea that he will win a second French Open title on Sunday.
Another concern for Nadal fans could be the way Djokovic crushed the Spaniard in the final of the 2019 Australian Open, in circumstances similar to this tournament.
Nadal had not lost a single set on his way to that final but, like now, he entered the tournament without much competitive action and finished nowhere near the level required to cause trouble for a fit Djokovic.
Despite all that, few would be willing to dismiss Nadal in the place where he has only lost twice in 15 years.
