The Spaniard Rafael Nadal prevailed in a vibrant match against Serbian Novak Djokovic, number 1 in the world and defending champion, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and 7-6(4) and in search of his fourteenth crown at Roland Garros will play the semifinals against the German Alexander Zverev.
At the end of a four-hour marathon and 11 minutes, which ended at dawn, Nadal, number 5 in the ranking, with this victory prevented Djokovic from having options to add his third title in Paris and equal him to 21 Grand Slam.
Boosted by the Paris public, the Spaniard qualified for the fifteenth time for the semifinals on the Parisian clay, a round where he has only lost once, last year against Djokovic.
The Serbian ended his series of 14 consecutive victories and left the field without saying hello to the stands, visibly unhappy with the support they gave the Spaniard.
Nadal, who had assured that tonight’s could be his last match at Roland Garros and who had complained about the night shift, ended up in an extraordinary communion with the spectators.
The The duel began on a starry night in May, but like the great battles, the epic ones, those in which the contenders leave everything, nothing to save, it ended on a crisp June morning, something that the annals of tennis history never they had previously registered.
That it was not going to be an easy duel was seen coming from the first moment, especially since Nadal, who started as the victim, came out plugged in, ready to put his credentials on the track from the beginning and nobody thought that Djokovic, the favorite theoretician, would leave without a fight.
It was surprising that the Spaniard the first set was scored with relative ease and that he began dominating the second, 3-0, with two serves snatched from the rival. Thus ended the series of 22 consecutive sets won by the Serb, who entered the tournament in Rome without losing any and had won all on their way to the Paris quarterfinals.
The match started as the semi-final a year ago, but on this occasion, Nadal did not lower his arms and fought until the end.
As expected, the Serbian woke up, scoring the next three games and already, with the run, tied at a set.
Not without a battle, because both disputed every millimeter of the track, with some games scolded ad nauseam, such as the 3-3, which lasted 14 minutes.
While the minutes went up, the degrees went down and the cold densifies the game, bad news for Nadal who saw how his master strokes lost effectiveness.
In the face of this, the Spaniard, a genius at adapting to the environment, used strategy, less power but more intelligence, which must have caught the Serbian unnoticed, who was slow to react and, when he did, he already had another set against him.
Spurred on, number 1 in the world ndo showed his character and was placed 3-0 at the beginning of the fourth, although to do so he had to throw the public behind his back with an ugly gesture by hitting the net with the racket.
The boos , the ¡Rafa Rafa!, were undermining his morale and when he served to win the set with 5-2 in his favor, Nadal again brought out his talent and equalized the contest. They definitely chose the long way around.
But the Serbian’s morale had already fallen and in the tiebreaker game the advantage clearly went to the Spaniard, who placed 6-1 and with five bullets in the chamber to reach the semi-finals. He fired four before hitting the Serb’s heart.
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