Upstart Cecchinato savoring ‘the best moment of my life’
World No 72 knocks off Djokovic in epic French Open quarterfinal
PARIS — It was difficult to discern which was less likely: Novak Djokovic, a 12-time Grand Slam champion, faltering in his French Open quarterfinal, or Marco Cecchinato, who had never won a Grand Slam match until last week and once faced a possible ban for losing on purpose, rising to the occasion.
Either way, Tuesday’s outcome was stunning. To both men. And to anyone watching.
Djokovic, bothered by neck and leg problems, went from two sets down to the verge of forcing a fifth, but he frittered away good chances and was beaten by world No 72 Cecchinato 6-3, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 7-6 (11) in a rollicking match packed with breath-taking rallies and plenty of drama.
“It’s a hard one to swallow,” a glum Djokovic acknowledged during a brief postmatch media conference, in which he delivered clipped answers and said he might not play during the upcoming grasscourt season.
Cecchinato is the lowestranked French Open semifinalist in 19 years and the first Italian man to make it that far at any major in 40 years.
“This is the best moment of my life!” Cecchinato said.
Djokovic served for the fourth set at 5-3 — “I thought my Roland Garros was about to end,” said Cecchinato — but the 2016 French Open champion was broken.
Djokovic then held three set points in the tiebreaker — “I saw ghosts,” Cecchinato joked — but couldn’t convert.
Djokovic’s resume lists 68 career titles but he’s only won four since his French Open triumph in 2016.
That Paris triumph came after losses in the 2012, 2014 and 2015 finals.
“I don’t know if I’m going to play on grass; I’m just not thinking about tennis at the moment,” said Djokovic.
At 7-6 in the closing tiebreaker, he pushed a backhand long.
At 8-7, Cecchinato ended a 20-stroke exchange with a swinging volley winner. At 9-8, Djokovic flubbed a forehand, knelt and clasped his hands together as if praying.
“I had a lot of courage, especially toward the end of the tiebreaker,” Cecchinato said.
“I was cool and clear-headed. My heart was beating 1,000 miles per hour. It wasn’t easy. My hand was even shaking a little.”
Cecchinato (it’s pronounced cheh-key-NAH-toe) came through on his fourth match point, looping in a backhand return winner as Djokovic tried to surprise him with a serve-and-volley attempt.
The 25-year-old Cecchinato, who beat Belgian eighth seed David Goffin in the previous round, dropped onto his back on the clay, then sat in his sideline chair, bowed his head and cried.
Told in an on-court interview that he wasn’t dreaming, Cecchinato responded: “Are you sure?”
Consider that Cecchinato had never won a tour-level match on a surface other than red clay. He entered this season with a career record of 4-23 and entered this tournament with a Grand Slam record of 0-4.
Then there’s this: The 25-year-old from Sicily was suspended for 18 months and fined $45,000 by his national federation in 2016 for allegedly fixing a match by losing at a lower-tier Challenger event in Morocco a year earlier. Cecchinato appealed and, eventually, the Italian Olympic Committee announced that the sanctions were dropped on a technicality.
The player declined to discuss the case in Paris.
On Friday, Cecchinato will face No 7 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria, who made it to his third consecutive French Open semifinal by beating No 2 Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.
As the score indicates, that match was far less compelling, in part because Zverev felt pain in his left hamstring 10 minutes into it and wound up having his leg taped by a trainer.
“First time I felt a pull was in the fourth game of the first set, when we had a few great points, a lot of physical points,” said Zverev.
“Then, you know, each game and each slide, I was getting worse and worse. Middle of the second set, the pain was too much.”
The German beat Thiem on clay in the Madrid Masters final last month and was coming off a trio of wins that went five sets.
While still just 21, he could not will his body to another comeback.
“He’s one of the fittest guys on tour and even for him, it’s maybe even a little bit too tough to play three five-setters,” said Thiem.