Novak, Serena thru' to semis
Novak Djokovic reached his 30th Grand Slam semifinal on Thursday but his quest for a first French Open title was almost scuppered by disqualification. He will face Dominic Thiem on Friday after overcoming Belgium's David Goffin 4-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 6-1 to make the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time and underline his place at the topmost level.
The other semifinal today pits second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain against Switzerland's third seed and defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka.
Meanwhile, defending champion Serena Williams survived a fright as she laboured into the semi-finals of the French Open with a 5-7 6-4 6-1 victory against Kazakh Yulia Putintseva. The world number one, who will take on Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens for a place in Saturday's final, made a mess of numerous routine shots as her opponent took the opening set having made only one unforced error.
The American survived two break points at 4-4 in the second set, which she eventually won when world number 60 Putintseva served a double fault. The momentum had swung Williams's way and the American crushed Putintseva in the decider, wrapping it up on her fourth match point with an unreturnable serve.
Australian 21st seed Samantha Stosur reached the French Open semi-finals on Wednesday with a 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) victory over Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. Stosur, runner-up at Roland Garros six years ago, will play Spanish fourth seed Garbine Muguruza for a place in the final.
Djokovic defeated Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, claiming a place in an eighth French Open semi-final and sixth in succession. Frustrated at missing a break point, Djokovic went to smash his racquet into the ground but it slipped out of his grasp before it flew into the backwall on Philippe Chatrier Court. Had it hit the nearby line judge, who was forced to take evasive action, Djokovic would have been disqualified.
Comments