French Open men's final pairs rivals for 56th all-time meeting

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal provide 1-2 rankings punch to Sunday showdown

AP photo by Alessandra Tarantino / Rafael Nadal celebrates after beating Diego Schwartzman in the first French Open men's semifinal Friday in Paris. Nadal, who has won 13 of his 19 Grand Slam singles titles at the clay court major tournament, won 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (0).
AP photo by Alessandra Tarantino / Rafael Nadal celebrates after beating Diego Schwartzman in the first French Open men's semifinal Friday in Paris. Nadal, who has won 13 of his 19 Grand Slam singles titles at the clay court major tournament, won 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (0).

PARIS - Novak Djokovic seemed well on his way to yet another ho-hum victory, yet another French Open final, yet another matchup against rival Rafael Nadal. Suddenly, though, what had been a gallop became a grind.

Slightly more than two hours into his semifinal against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday night, Djokovic was serving for the match, one point from ending things in straight sets.

Just. One. Point.

Then a backhand down the line veered a tad wide, Djokovic rolled his eyes, and eventually he was stuck in a serious situation, somehow pushed to five sets.

As is usually the case, however, the 33-year-old from Serbia was up to the task when it mattered the most. The top-ranked Djokovic got back in gear down the stretch to hold off the much younger, much less accomplished Tsitsipas, 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, to reach his fifth title match at Roland Garros.

"I stayed calm on the surface," Djokovic said, "but deep down, it was a totally different matter."

He is pursuing a second trophy at the clay court major and his 18th from all Grand Slam tournaments. Standing in his way Sunday at Court Philippe Chatrier will be the second-ranked Nadal, the 34-year-old Spaniard who is peerless on this surface but quite familiar to Djokovic.

It will be their 56th meeting, the most between two men in the professional era (Djokovic leads 29-26), 16th at a major (Nadal leads 9-6) and eighth at the French Open (Nadal leads 6-1).

"It's his house," Djokovic said.

In addition to closing in on an unfathomable 13th French Open championship with a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (0) win over 12th-seeded Diego Schwartzman in Friday's early semifinal, Nadal now gets a chance to tie Roger Federer for the men's record of 20 major singles titles. Nadal said it's fine for others to discuss such matters, but his focus remains squarely on the task at hand.

"I'm playing the most important tournament of the year - that's what motivates me," insisted Nadal, who improved to 99-2 at the French Open, including a combined 25-0 in semifinals and finals, as he seeks a fourth consecutive title in Paris.

He has won all 15 sets he's played the past two weeks, but even he had to deal with a bit of tension late in his third set against Schwartzman, a 28-year-old from Argentina who upset Nadal in straight sets on clay at the Italian Open last month.

"You can't pretend to be in a final of Roland Garros without suffering. That's what happened there," Nadal said about the tight third set. "But I found a way, no?"

photo AP photo by Alessandra Tarantino / Novak Djokovic shouts after scoring a point against Stefanos Tsitsipas during the second French Open men's semifinal Friday in Paris. Djokovic was on the brink of winning in straight sets but wound up needing all five to secure the victory, 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1.

So, too, did Djokovic. It just took longer than expected.

He served for the win at 5-4 in the third set, holding that match point at 40-30. He would require another 1 hour, 45 minutes to finish the job against the 22-year-old from Greece in his second major semifinal.

That one misstep left the door a bit ajar, and Tsitsipas barged through. He got his first break all match when Djokovic sent a forehand long, making it 5-all. Tsitsipas broke again to steal that set when Djokovic netted a forehand, then got things to a fifth.

What changed? Tsitsipas began pushing forward more, taking the action to Djokovic, whose misses began to increase with less time to properly calibrate. Also notable was the massive swing in success on break points: Djokovic started by converting four of five, then went through a stretch where he was 1-for-13; Tsitsipas began 0-for-10, then went 4-for-5.

After the fourth set, Djokovic changed socks and shoes, and Tsitsipas got a medical visit for a check of his left leg.

"I believe my body was not ready," Tsitsipas acknowledged afterward. "Physically, I wasn't really there."

Djokovic is now 32-10 in five-setters and 216-1 when taking a two-set lead in Grand Slam matches (the lone loss came at the 2010 French Open against Jurgen Melzer). Tsitsipas is 2-4 in five-setters.

Maybe it made sense, then, that Djokovic, so reliant on drop shots all match and all tournament, used a perfect one to break for a 2-1 lead in the fifth. That became 4-1 when Tsitsipas double-faulted.

"I feel, I can say, happy - and, at the same time, sad," Tsitsipas said.

Djokovic is now 37-1 in 2020, the only setback coming via a disqualification at the U.S. Open last month.

"For sure, he has reached almost perfection, Novak, in his game style, the way he plays," Tsitsipas said, "which is unbelievable to see, honestly."

Upcoming Events