Tennis
French Open
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Updated 8m ago
It was a busy quarterfinal Day 11 at Roland Garros.
Coco Gauff (2) has booked her in place in the 2025 French Open semifinals after winning in three sets (6-7, 6-4, 6-1) against Madison Keys (7).
She will take on home hope Loïs Boisson for a place in Saturday’s final, after the French wild card stunned 18-year-old favorite and No. 6 seed Mirra Andreeva 7-6(6), 6-3 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic (6) defeated Alexander Zverev (3) in four sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Djokovic will face Jannik Sinner (1), who beat Alexander Bublik in three sets.
The women's semifinals are tomorrow while the men play on Friday.
GO FURTHER
Coco Gauff beats Madison Keys to reach French Open semifinals
A clay-court masterclass from Novak Djokovic, who is two matches away from winning a 25th Grand Slam title. Because of how dominant Nadal was here, we sometimes overlook how much of a genius he is on this surface. Mats Wilander, a fellow three-time French Open champion, told The Athletic last year that he would put Djokovic joint-second with Bjorn Borg as the second-best player ever on this surface.
He made good on that tonight.
GO FURTHER
Novak Djokovic and clay: Roland Garros, the Nadal rivalry and unfulfilled destiny
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FINAL: Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 4-6 Djokovic
It was a slugfest at times but Novak Djokovic used his versatility to his advantage to dispatch Zverev.
He needed a few attempts at it after Zverev brought things to 40-40 in the decisive game but Djokovic's persistence paid off. He sealed the deal in a fifth match point, let out a sigh of relief and raised his hands to the night sky.
He wraps up another impressive win to keep his hopes of a 25th Grand Slam title alive as Zverev was unable to come back from a tricky third set.
Jannik Sinner lies in wait for Djokovic in another tantalising match-up in this year's French Open.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, *4-5 Djokovic
Zverev does well to hold in another game of sumptuous rallies.
But Djokovic has moved through his service games pretty quickly all match and now has the chance to serve for his place in the semifinal.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 3-5* Djokovic
In yet another impressive rally as the clock ticked over to three hours of match time, Zverev saw his return run a fraction long.
That's just been his night and Djokovic's wry smile as he walked away with the point will not have helped the German's mood.
He is now serving to stay in the tournament.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 2-4* Djokovic
Now we're getting to the crunch — what a game!
Zverev had the chance to break Djokovic, only for a 41-shot rally to ensue in which the players ran over 200m between them, only for Djokovic to rescue the point.
That was a mammoth effort from both players as Djokovic survives that scare and moves one step closer.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, *1-3 Djokovic
With a bow of the head, it's a blow for Zverev as he gets Djokovic to 40-40 in his service game but is unable to break him.
And as time goes on, Djokovic will have more confidence and freedom to play with aggression.
The numbers favour the 24-time Grand Slam winner — he has not lost from a two set lead since the Australian Open in 2017. That's eight years of tennis tacked against Zverev. But it's not impossible.
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Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, *1-2 Djokovic
He has managed to halt Djokovic's run of seven games won in a row by holding there.
That will be a relief and a platform for him to build on now but he needs to be braver if he is going to turn this match on its head.
Alexander Zverev had looked ready to take this match to Djokovic in the first set, accelerating through his groundstrokes and pinging the three-time champion all over Court Philippe-Chatrier with his forehand.
Now into the fourth, the German has reverted to his safe, unthreatening groundstroke play that wins him plenty of matches, but not matches like this against a player like Djokovic.
The pitiful drop shot Zverev sent halfway up the net on his slow slide out of the third set was emblematic of what's making the difference in this match.
Zverev can hang with Djokovic — and even dictate on occasion — in the baseline exchanges, but there is a gulf in class at the net and Djokovic is dragging Zverev there time and again.
It's a pattern that has defined Zverev's recent clay-court nearly moments: missed volleys were key in the late stages of his French Open final loss to Carlos Alcaraz last year.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, *0-1 Djokovic
This is critical now for Zverev who is crumbling. Djokovic takes his sixth game in a row and breaks Zverev for the third time in a trow to establish a lead in the fourth set.
We will be edging towards a conclusion faster than we thought unless the German can stem the flow of points towards Djokovic.
Meanwhile, the crowd has got a bit rowdy inside Chatrier and have been asked to quieten down a few times now.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, *0-0 Djokovic
This is what Djokovic is so good at.
Ice cold, he read the shift in emotion from Zverev after he grew visibly frustrated from losing break point — and then he went through the gears to snuff out any hope of the German fighting back.
Zverev was a bystander in the final game. This match is not over but he needs to regroup fast if he is to stop Djokovic from winning the match in this next set.
That third set was the quickest of the match in 33 minutes. Brutal efficiency from Djokovic.
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Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-5* Djokovic
This third set has slipped away from Zverev.
Djokovic will serve for the set when he steps up from his chair — he headed off there with some determination as the chair umpire took a look at a call in the final point of the last game.
She upheld the call of out for a Zverev return after some net play at pretty close quarters. Zverev will need to take this to five if he is to advance.
Djokovic is using the drop shot so effectively right now, doing so to earn himself a break point. He’s hit 22 in the match to Zverev’s six, and is tracking to hit around as many as Alexander Bublik did against Jack Draper on Monday.
Zverev plays with so little variety, and he’s also reluctant to really go for his shots and blast opponents off the court. So unless he can turn this into a slugfest, which Djokovic is avoiding with the variety he’s employing, it’s tough to see what Zverev’s path to victory is here.
Djokovic breaks for 3-2.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-3* Djokovic
That was a game and a half!
We're being treated to some excellent rallies between the two players and some frustration is starting to creep in for Zverev. He has been giving his team a bit of an ear bending since making an error on his forehand during the break point.
Djokovic takes the game to break and get the advantage in the set — offering up only a steely glare down the barrel of the camera. He means business.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 2-1* Djokovic
It's been a fairly swift start to this third set with both players holding their service games and looking like they are in the rhythm.
The longer this game runs on the question we will get an answer to is whether Zverev's physical capacity will outdo Djokovic's technique should this run to five sets.
Some thoughts on time.
Djokovic and Zverev are two sets in and at 1:40, that is just nine minutes less than Sinner's entire match earlier today. Sinner's last match before that was two hours and there's a decent chance this match will end up longer than those two matches combined.
It's really good to be Jannik Sinner right now.
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We've played 100 minutes and we're back to where we started — all square between Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, as the 24-time major champion levels things up by winning the second set 6-3.
Djokovic is the one playing with the greater variety, and appropriately enough he finishes the seat with a gorgeous feathered drop shot. This match may come down to whether Djokovic's superior craft wins out against Zverev's better fitness.
We all anticipated a long one tonight, and that's where we're headed at the moment.
Zverev 6-4, 3-6, *0-0 Djokovic
What a way to finish the set!
Everyone inside Chatrier is on their feet after a stunning rally to finish that game and set.
Djokovic takes it after moments in the rally where both players looked to be on the ropes. In the end it was a drop shot that Zverev was unable to get up off the toes of his trainers that won the set for Djokovic.
Zverev 6-4, *2-5 Djokovic
He's put himself in a strong position and now Djokovic needs to break Zverev to take the second set.
That was a relatively straight forward service game from him to tee up a shot (or two if he ends up needing a further game) at levelling the match.
