Djokovic falters in stunning French Open loss to Italian

It was difficult to discern which was less likely: that 12-time major champion Novak Djokovic would falter in his French Open quarter-final 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 72nd-ranked 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 grass-court season.

Cecchinato is the lowest-ranked French Open semifinalist in 19 years and the first Italian man to make it that far at any major in 40 years.

“The best moment of my life,” Cecchinato said.

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.

Consider that 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.

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.