DjokovicNadal semifinal is set

PARIS — Two points from a straightset victory, Novak Djokovic seemingly was well on his way to a French Open semifinal match against Rafael Nadal when so much went awry Wednesday night.

Consecutive unforced errors by Djokovic, the top seed, helped give away a tiebreaker to Matteo Berrettini. Then there was a 21½minute delay in the fourth set while the first spectators allowed to attend a night session at Court Philippe Chatrier were cleared out because of a coronavirus curfew. And a facefirst stumble by Djokovic drew blood from his left palm when he braced himself against the court.

Still, Djokovic pulled out the quarterfinal victory against the ninth seed 63, 62, 67 (5), 75.

Now comes a semifinal Friday against a familiar foe in a rematch of last year’s Roland Garros final, but a round earlier: Nadal, who is 1052 at Roland Garros. “We know each other well,” said Nadal, the third seed. “Everybody knows that in these kind of matches, anything can happen.”

Nadal’s pursuit of a recordbreaking 21st Grand Slam title — and what would be a 14th in Paris alone — was intact despite dropping a set at the claycourt major for the first time in two years. His 63, 46, 64, 60 victory over 10thseeded Diego Schwartzman was punctuated by fist pumps and yells of “Vamos!”

Nadal reached his 14th semifinal in Paris; Djokovic his 11th. It’s Djokovic’s 40th trip to the final four at any major, Nadal’s 35th. Nadal and Roger Federer share the men’s mark of 20 Grand Slam titles; Djokovic is at 18.

The semifinal will be the 58th matchup between Djokovic and Nadal, more than any other two men in the sport’s professional era; Djokovic leads 2928. Nadal is ahead 106 in Slam meetings, 71 in Paris.

On the women’s side, Coco Gauff, 17, the last American standing, lost in the quarterfinals to Barbora Krejcikova 76 (6), 63.

Gauff, who was the youngest French Open quarterfinalist since 2006, remained positive despite 41 unforced errors, including seven doublefaults, and one mangled racket frame after she whacked it three times against the ground in frustration.

“My hitting partner told me this match will probably make me a champion in the future,” Gauff said. “I really do believe that.”

Meanwhile, Maria Sakkari ended defending champion Iga Swiatek’s 11match and 22set winning streaks at Roland Garros by beating her 64, 64 to guarantee that there will be a firsttime Grand Slam champion.