Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals of the French Open today, defeating Pablo Carreno Busta.
The world No.1 would rally following the opening set that he lost to beat the Spaniard with 3-1, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. The match lasted for three hours and 10 minutes of play, and Novak had numerous troubles.
At first, he had a very motivated opponent across the net but also struggled with injuries. The Joker felt pain in his neck and left elbow, and that presented a limitation that impacted him severely. It would lower his first serve to just 40% during the opening set, with Carreno Busta using that in the best possible way.
[embed]https://twitter.com/rolandgarros/status/1313931092844515329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]The problems continued for the Serb in the second set, with the medical staff intervening at one point. The Spanish player was on the verge of earning a break point, but Novak denied two such chances, responding with one of his own – successfully.
The first serve started working for the top player in the ATP rankings shortly after, and his return was back at the usual level. Suddenly it was 6-2 for the 17-time Grand Slam champion.
Just one thousand fans that had the luck to be present at this contest saw the same scenario in the third set, with Carreno Busta attacking at the beginning, missing break point chances, and Djokovic furiously responding. The closing sequence of the match saw Novak pressuring the rival, but without any success until the seventh game once he took his serve, which was enough for the closure of the event.
[embed]https://twitter.com/rolandgarros/status/1313942851458347010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]This was a huge relief for Djokovic, whose last loss at the Grand Slam was against this player. It was a controversial disqualification at the US Open when Novak hit the line umpire with the tennis ball. Obviously, this clash meant a lot for the Serb, who was a bit uneasy before the match, according to the domestic media back home. It was also his fourth victory against Carreno Busta.
The next opponent for the Serb will be Stefanos Tsitsipas, who defeated Andrey Rublev earlier today. The Greek did it in straight sets, without too much trouble, confidently imposing his own game right from the start and routinely cruising past the Russian.
Tsitsipas and Djokovic are set to meet on Friday, October 9, and this will be their seventh match with the record being tied so far, 3 wins each.