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| Dates: 22 Could-5 June Venue: Roland Garros, Paris |
| Protection: Reside textual content and radio commentaries of chosen matches throughout BBC Radio 5 Reside Sports activities Further, the BBC Sport web site and app |
Rafael Nadal demonstrated as soon as once more why he’s the best participant in French Open historical past by beating long-time rival Novak Djokovic in a late-night thriller to succeed in the boys’s singles semi-finals.
Nadal, going for a 14th title, began beautifully and fought off resistance from defending champion Djokovic to win 6-2 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4) at Roland Garros.
Nadal secured victory at 1:16am native time after over 4 hours on court docket.
The 21-time Grand Slam winner now faces third seed Alexander Zverev on Friday.
Germany’s Zverev, 25, reached the semi-finals for the second successive yr after surviving teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz’s fightback earlier on Tuesday.
“To win towards Novak there is just one means: to play your finest from the primary level to the final,” mentioned 35-year-old Nadal, who thanked the Chatrier crowd for exhibiting their “love”.
“That is a type of magic nights for me.”
Victory for Nadal avenged his semi-final defeat by Djokovic final yr and prolonged his all-time report on the Roland Garros clay to 110 wins in 113 matches.
The rivalry between the pair is essentially the most enduring in males’s tennis, with Nadal successful their 59th assembly seeing him slender the hole to 30-29 within the head-to-head.
“Nadal confirmed why he is a superb champion and stayed mentally powerful. Little doubt he deserves it,” mentioned Djokovic.
“He was the higher participant within the essential moments, he began nicely and I did not begin so nicely.
“I gained momentum within the second set and I believed I used to be again within the recreation. However he was capable of take his tennis to a different stage.”
Extra to observe.
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