Unknown Italian stuns Djokovic
his back on the clay after winning, is the lowest-ranked man to get to the semifinals in Paris in 19 years – and about as unlikely as anyone to get this far at a big tournament.
Told in an on-court interview that he wasn’t dreaming, Cecchinato responded: ‘‘Are you sure?’’
The 25-year-old from Sicily was a controversial player, having been suspended for 18 months and fined €40,000 (NZ$66,000) by his national federation in July 2016, accused of losing on purpose at a lower-tier Challenger event in Morocco a year earlier. Eventually, the Italian Olympic Committee announced that sanctions were dropped on a technicality.
Cecchinato has never won a tour-level match on a surface other than red clay; as it is, he entered this season with a career record of 4-23.
He arrived at Roland Garros with a 0-4 mark in the majors, and dropped the first two sets in the first round before coming all the way back to win 10-8 in the fifth. Since then, employing a smooth one-handed backhand, he has beaten players seeded No 8 (David Goffin) and No 10 (Pablo Carreno Busta), before adding former No 1 Djokovic to his list.
Next up: 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 earlier yesterday.
In the women’s quarterfinals, No 10 Sloane Stephens beat No 14 Daria Kasatkina, of Russia, 6-3
6-1, and No 13 Madison Keys eliminated unseeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan 7-6(5)
6-4.
Stephens beat Keys in the US Open final last September, and their rematch tomorrow will be the first all-American women’s semifinal at the French Open since Serena Williams beat Jennifer Capriati in 2002.