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Nadal Outlasts Djokovic to Reach French Open Final Nadal Outlasts Djokovic to Reach Final
(34 minutes later)
PARIS — Rafael Nadal won an epic semifinal against Novak Djokovic at the French Open to remain the King of Clay — for another couple of days, at least. PARIS — It was only a semifinal and relegated to first on the Friday schedule, which meant that there were plenty of empty seats at the Philippe Chatrier court when Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic walked on court to play for the 35th time.
Nadal, a seven-time champion here, twice let a lead slip away in the fourth set Friday, then came from behind in the fifth to beat the No. 1-ranked Djokovic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7. But by the time they finished chasing down each other’s bold strokes in the afternoon sunlight, there could be little doubt that this was the main event.
Djokovic blew an easy overhead on the opening point on the final game and went on to lose serve at love, sending his final forehand long. It required 4 hours 37 minutes, but Nadal, the seven-time French Open champion, prevailed, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7, over Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 player.
Nadal improved to 58-1 at Roland Garros, including five wins over Djokovic. The French Open remains the only major title Djokovic has yet to win. The victory earned, truly earned, Nadal a chance to successfully defend his title Sunday against the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between the Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the Spaniard David Ferrer.
Nadal is trying to become the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam event. Tsonga’s nationality — and the big French television audience that goes with it — explains why his match with Ferrer was scheduled second.
The decision resulted in one of the greatest undercards in tennis as the two men who were long expected to duel for this title this year produced a match of brilliant defense and offense that thoroughly lived up to the expectations.
Nadal, the 27-year-old from the Spanish island Majorca, has still lost just one match in his long career at Roland Garros. That came against Robin Soderling of Sweden in the fourth round in 2009. After holding off Nadal at the end of the fourth set and leading by a service break and 4-3 in the fifth set, Djokovic appeared poised to give Soderling company and himself a chance to win the only Grand Slam singles title he lacks.
But Nadal is one of the game’s great competitors and champions. He broke Djokovic’s serve in the long, eventful eighth game of the fifth set to get back to 4-4then kept his cool and belief until finally breaking Djokovic’s serve at love to win the match.
“It was an incredible match,” said Nadal, who is seeded third this year. “To play against Novak is always something unusual. We push each other to the limit.”
Nadal now leads 20-15 in their head-to-head rivalry, but he lost their most memorable match: the 2012 Australian Open final in five sets and 5 hours 53 minutes.
This match, in part because of the lopsided third set won by Nadal, never threatened the five-hour mark. But Friday’s match was still unquestionably epic.
“He was the one who won in 2012 and today I had the good fortune to win,” Nadal said. “I’m so happy. I love to play in this atmosphere.”
It was only the second five-set match that Nadal has played at the French Open. He beat John Isner in five sets in the first round here in 2011. He beat Djokovic in last year’s final in four sets over two days.
This time they met one round earlier, but whatever comes next will have a hard time matching the quality and suspense that Djokovic and Nadal generated Friday.