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Djokovic leads Nadal 29-26 in meetings. He also leads 15-11 in finals. Of these matches, 15 have been in Grand Slams with Nadal leading 9–6. Spaniard is 6-1 at the French Open, including both finals
By Raz Mirza
Last update: 09/10/20 10:00 pm
Novak Djokovic reaches his fifth French Open final after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets
World number one Novak Djokovic staged a dream French Open final against defending champion Rafael Nadal after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets on Friday night in Paris.
Djokovic, who physically struggled with neck and shoulder problems during his quarter-final victory against Pablo Carreño Busta, blew away a two-set lead against the Greek before regaining his form in the fifth to reach his 27th Grand Slam final.
Djokovic, who was seeking a second French Open and an 18th Grand Slam title, claimed a 6-3 6-2 5-7 4-6 6-1 victory after three hours and 54 minutes on the Philippe Chatrier court.
“Here, he (Nadal) is the favorite, he is his home here. With all the titles he won, but in 2015 I won here against him in the quarterfinals,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview.
“I hope I can recover, I need my best tennis. Perhaps the biggest challenge in our sport is playing against Nadal at Roland Garros. I look forward to it, I am happy to be here and motivated to win.”
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Tsitsipas has great shooting skills, but he couldn’t get through Djokovic’s wall during the first two sets.
The Serbian trailed 0-40 in the first game, but saved all three break points before taking command of the first set.
It was a similar story in the second set when Djokovic ripped through the defenses of fifth seed Tsitsipas, losing just two games.
The Greek threw down the kitchen sink to seeded in the third set, improving his game to finally break through Djokovic’s defenses for the first time in the match when the Serbian served for the match at 5-4, saving a scoring point. match.
Tsitsipas kept her serve in the next game before shaking Djokovic by snatching the set with a brilliant right hand that painted the bottom line.
Break point conversion of Novak Djokovic v. Tsitsipas
🎾 First 3 series: 4/5
🎾 Fourth set: 1/11#Roland Garros– ATP Tour (@atptour) October 9, 2020
Djokovic was 0-2 at level in the fourth set, but was unable to make his own breakthrough.
Tsitsipas held firm, saving 10 of 11 break points, before sending the match into a decider after the Serb’s drop attempt missed the mark.
Tsitsipas fought two sets before finally falling to defeat.
Djokovic reaffirmed control in the decisive to win
As the clock ticked past 10pm local time, Djokovic looked stunned, especially as he enjoyed a remarkable 215-1 Grand Slams record after winning the first two sets. His only loss was here at Roland Garros to Jürgen Melzer in 2010.
The 33-year-old kept his composure and kept his focus to earn a service break in the third game of the fifth. He solidified his lead before running out of the contest, hitting his third match point, to reach his fifth Roland Garros final and the first since winning the tournament in 2016.
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