Djokovic battles past Tsitsipas for date with Nadal
Serb scrapes past Greek in five sets to set up showdown with 12- time champion
NOVAK DJOKOVIC will face Rafael Nadal for the 56th time in the final of the French Open after withstanding a spirited Stefanos Tsitsipas fightback.
Djokovic looked to be easing to a relatively- straightforward victory when he served for the match at 5- 4 in the third set only for Tsitsipas to save a match point and turn the contest completely around.
But Djokovic, who showed no signs of the neck and arm problems that bothered him in his quarter- final win over Pablo Carreno Busta, did not panic and reasserted control in the decider to win 6- 3 6- 2 5- 7 4- 6 6- 1 after three hours and 54 minutes.
Earlier in the day, Nadal gained revenge on Diego Schwartzman to reach his 13th French Open final.
Schwartzman had managed his first victory over Nadal in 10 meetings at the Italian Open in Rome last month but a repeat never looked on the cards in the Spaniard’s fortress.
Nadal’s 6- 3 6- 3 7- 6 ( 0) victory made it 99 wins and only two defeats at Roland Garros and he will challenge for a 13th title tomorrow.
Victory would give him a 20th grand slam crown, drawing him level with Roger Federer at the top of the alltime list, and few would bet against him.
He was relentless for two and a half sets but a faltering finish will be a cause for optimism for Djokovic in the final tomorrow.
From 4- 2, Nadal’s grip on the match loosened and he had to save three break points at 5- 5 before clinching the match on a tie- break to ensure he reached the final in Paris without dropping a set for the sixth time.
The Spaniard said: “Today I think the experience of Rome helped me in some way because I was able to take a look on the match, to analyse the things that worked well and things that, of course, didn’t work.
“We tried to go on court with a plan, with the right determination. In some way I think I played tactically the right match.
“I think I made a couple of mistakes tactically and of course technically. But, in general terms, I am super happy about the match.
“It has been an important victory for me against a very tough player. To win against Diego, you have to work a lot and you have to play well for such a long time.
“That’s what I did today. I think I played solid. I played with the right determination in most of the moments of the match.
“Especially in the tie- break, I finished the match playing well. I needed to be a little bit more aggressive in the ( second) half of the third set when I had the score in my favour.
“I lost a couple of opportunities there to close the match before and to not suffer like I suffered at the end.”
The crux of the match in many ways was a first set that averaged more than seven minutes a game. Nadal was largely conservative, using extra height on his shots to counteract the lack of spin caused by the cool, damp conditions.
Schwartzman had four break points but could only convert one while Nadal struck on both of his two chances, wearing the Argentinian down with his consistency and going to his attacking arsenal only when necessary.
Schwartzman lacked the attacking intensity he had shown in Rome, which was perhaps a legacy of his fivehour victory over Dominic Thiem in the quarter- finals.
He looked down and out
I made a couple of mistakes tactically and technically