FRENCH OPEN
Djokovic defeats 13-time champion Nadal in epic French Open semi-final
Novak Djokovic handed 13-time champion Rafael Nadal only his third defeat in 16 years and 108 matches at the French Open on Friday (June 11) to reach his sixth Roland Garros final in an epic showdown which even beat the country’s Covid-19 curfew.
In their 58th career clash, Djokovic triumphed 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 and stays on course to capture a 19th major and become the first man in over 50 years to win all four Slams twice.
Djokovic, the 2016 champion in Paris who had also beaten Nadal at the 2015 tournament, will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final in what will be his 29th championship match at the Slams.
Tsitsipas had earlier become the first Greek to reach a Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
Nadal, 35, who would have been the oldest finalist at the French Open in the modern era, remains tied on 20 majors with Roger Federer.
“It was a privilege to face Rafa in such an incredible match,” said Djokovic after four hours and 11 minutes of intense action.
“Tonight it was my greatest ever match in Paris.” It was his second win in eight meetings in Paris with Nadal, a sequence which also included three losses in finals.
It was Nadal’s first defeat in 14 semi-finals in the French capital.
“Probably it was not my best day today, even if I fought,” said Nadal.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I had a big chance. There were some crazy points but there was fatigue there.”
Djokovic finished with 50 winners; Nadal committed 55 unforced errors under the relentless assault.
Djokovic had two break points in the opening game of the first set which stretched to 10 minutes but was unable to convert.
Curfew-buster
Nadal made him pay, sprinting away for a 5-0 lead before the top seed got on the board.
Djokovic clung on, retrieving one break to get to 2-5 but Nadal eventually prevailed after one hour on court even if he required seven set points to edge ahead.
As a sign of the tension of the occasion, Nadal complained to chair umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore that he needed more time to collect his towel.
Djokovic aired his bemusement at the amount of clay on the baselines.
The old rivals exchanged breaks in the second and third games of a big-hitting second set but it was Djokovic who repeated the feat for a 4-2 lead before levelling the tie.
Twice in the third set Djokovic edged ahead, only to be reeled back in by Nadal who broke back in the 10th game as the world number one served for the set.
Djokovic then had to save a set point with an ice-cool drop shot in the 12th game.
“You cannot play better clay court tennis than this. It’s perfect,” tweeted Andy Murray.
A 92-minute third set ended with Djokovic taking the tiebreak.
In a further twist on a dramatic evening, the 5,000 spectators inside Court Philippe Chatrier were allowed to watch the conclusion of the match despite it passing the 11pm Covid-19 curfew.
“In agreement with the national authorities, the match will come to an end in your presence,” said a stadium announcer told delighted fans.
Nadal then broke in the first game of the fourth set but Djokovic levelled for 2-2 and broke again for 4-2.
He finished it off on a second match point when Nadal hit wide and long.
-AFP
Newly-crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil.
Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 and lift her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 U.S. Open.
She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
“It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there’s a lot going on in our country right now with things — like, everything, yeah. I’m sure you guys know,” she said, smiling but without elaborating further.
“But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don’t feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people.”
There has been ongoing political turmoil in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump last year.
Trump’s first few months in office have featured an unapologetic assault on diversity and inclusion efforts, unravelling decades-old policies to remedy historical injustices for marginalised groups in a matter of weeks.
In his second term, Trump revoked a landmark 1965 executive order mandating equal employment opportunities for all, slashed environmental actions to protect communities of colour and ordered the gutting of an agency that helped fund minority and women-owned businesses.
The actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on levelling the playing field for marginalised communities.
“I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt a down period a little bit and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) ‘just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for’.
“So that’s what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy).
“Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I’m definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I’m proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support.”
Trump has previously denied claims he has employed racist attacks and an agenda throughout his political career.
-Reuters
Paris St Germain forward Ousmane Dembele got a roaring welcome usually reserved for tennis champions when he carried the freshly-won Champions League trophy onto centre court on Monday.
The French soccer club beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the showcase match in Munich on Saturday to clinch the trophy for the first time before the players and staff got a heroes’ welcome in the French capital on Sunday.
The festivities for Dembele, who was voted the Champions League Player of the Season, continued on Monday when he carried the shiny trophy onto Court Philippe Chatrier in front of more than 10,000 people.
He was wearing a white T-shirt with the word “triumph” written on it.
Paris St Germain’s Ousmane Dembele presents the Champions League trophy on the Philippe-Chatrier court before the fourth round match between Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Britain’s Cameron Norrie REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
Organisers could not have timed the brief ceremony better, with Europe’s most prestigious soccer club trophy arriving minutes after world number 361 and wild card Lois Boisson of France stunned third-seeded American Jessica Pegula in three sets to reach the last eight in the upset of the tournament.
“Ici c’est Paris, (This is Paris)” shouted Dembele as the normally more reserved afternoon tennis crowd erupted with cheers.
“Exceptional, it was a magic moment in Munich. We played an exceptional season and were rewarded with our first European Cup,” France international Dembele told the crowd.
“The individual titles are fine but it is the collective titles that matter. We will try to win as many titles as possible.”
Novak Djokovic, the 24-times Grand Slam champion and three-times winner in Paris, was on court later for a straight sets win over Briton Cameron Norrie and he was quick to congratulate the Paris club, having joined in PSG’s Sunday festivities.
“An incredible season for PSG so congratulations to all Parisians,” the Serb said after his 100th career win on the Roland Garros clay. “It was amazing to be there yesterday.
“Two days ago during the game I was playing and it was a bit complicated to get to my hotel afterwards, complicated being an understatement. The roads were quite the show.”
PSG are only the second French side to win the European Cup after Olympique de Marseille in 1993.
-Reuters
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Fourth round action continued at the French Open on Monday with top seeds Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff in action while Novak Djokovic chases a milestone 100th win at Roland Garros.
British hopes rest on Cameron Norrie and fifth seed Jack Draper, who is up against the entertaining Alexander Bublik in the night session.
TOP MEN’S MATCH: NOVAK DJOKOVIC V CAMERON NORRIE
Djokovic came into the French Open having won his 100th career title at the Geneva Open and in the fourth round he can achieve something only 14-times champion Rafa Nadal has accomplished — 100 wins on the red clay at Roland Garros.
Djokovic’s third round victory over Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic was his 99th, equalling his own mark at the Australian Open where he has won the title 10 times. He also has 97 wins at Wimbledon and 90 at the U.S. Open.
“I’m just hoping to carry on. Every time I step onto this court I’m playing for history,” Djokovic said.
But if the sixth seed is to surpass Nadal’s jaw-dropping record of 112 wins at the French Open, Djokovic will find himself playing into his 40s.
Standing in Djokovic’s way is Briton Cameron Norrie, who downed Daniil Medvedev in the first round and has reached the last-16 for the first time in his career
“That match with Daniil was so tough, it was such a big test for me. To get through that, I thought I can take a lot of confidence from that,” Norrie said.
“To make the second week for the first time is so, so good and at a time where I was not really stringing a lot of matches and a lot of wins together.”
But he has work to do with Djokovic yet to drop a set while the Briton has lost all five matches he has played against the former world number one, including the semi-final in Geneva last month.
The pair played out a tense encounter in Rome in 2023 where Djokovic criticised Norrie’s attitude. Norrie hit an overhead smash at Djokovic’s leg when the Serbian had turned his back on the net having given up on a point.
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: MIRRA ANDREEVA V DARIA KASATKINA
Andreeva has yet to drop a set at Roland Garros this year and the Russian sixth seed showed she means business when she packed off Yulia Putintseva by winning nine of the last 10 games in their third-round encounter.
But Russian-born Kasatkina, who now represents Australia, is high on confidence after knocking out 10th seed Paula Badosa in straight sets.
Andreeva and Kasatkina practice together and the Russian 18-year-old said: “It’s going to be an entertaining match, for sure, because I think we both know each other very well. I think it’s going to be fun and also maybe pretty tight.”
Andreeva is looking to better her semi-final run at Roland Garros last year while Kasatkina beat her in the only match they have played, a roller-coaster three-setter in Ningbo last year.
“Mirra, she’s a very nice girl and an amazing player. We’ve been quite good with each other. I can even say that I think we are kind of friends,” Kasatkina said.
“The last one in Ningbo was a big drama match. Let’s see what’s going to happen here. We never met on clay before.”
-Reuters
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