Djokovic falters, Ceccchinato soars in French Open stunner
PARIS — It was difficult to discern which was less likely: that 12-time major champion Novak Djokovic would falter in his French Open quarterfinal or that Marco Cecchinato, who never won a Grand Slam match until last week and once faced a possible ban for losing on purpose, would rise 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 in the end was beaten by the 72ndranked Cecchinato 6-3, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 7-6 (11) in a rollicking match filled with engaging exchanges and plenty of drama.
“A hard one to swallow,” a glum Djokovic acknowledged during a brief news 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.
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, then raised an index finger as if to plea, “Let me have ONE of these!”
“I had a lot of courage, especially toward the end of the tiebreaker,” Cecchinato said. “I was cool. Clear-headed. My heart was beating 1,000 mph. 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-andvolley attempt.
He has 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 was far less compelling, in part because Zverev felt pain in his left hamstring 10 minutes into the match and wound up having his leg taped by a trainer.
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 U.S. Open final last September, and Thursday’s rematch will be the first all-American women’s semifinal at the French Open since Serena Williams defeated Jennifer Capriati in 2002.
That Cecchinato would be a semifinal participant was far harder to predict.
In the first round at Roland Garros, he dropped the first two sets against Marius Copil, a player ranked 94th, 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 Djokovic to his list.
By the end, though, points were tight and taught, one even lasting 30 strokes. Djokovic actually won more total points, 144-140.