French Open: Novak Djokovic beats Alexander Zverev to reach semi-final

PARIS: Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down to beat Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in a hard-fought late-night battle here at Court Philippe Chatrier on Wednesday to book a place in the French Open semi-finals. 

This is Serbian’s 101st victory at Roland Garros, which kept his quest for a 25th Grand Slam title alive.

Zverev started the match aggressively, breaking Djokovic’s serve early as he clinched the first set.

It was the first time that the Serb had dropped a set in this year’s French Open.

Djokovic made a strong comeback winning the second set after getting a 4-1 lead.

The story of the third set was also the same as the second, 24 time Grand Slam champion winning four games in a row after 2-2. 

However, in the fourth set, the German gave a tough time with 5-4 but Djokovic closed the match comfortably with a victory.

Djokovic reflecting on the match said that he was playing against the wind and it felt like he was competing against two players. 

"Against the wind, especially that side where I was playing the last game, I felt the wind increased in the last few games," Djokovic said.

"It was almost playing against two players. I feel the ball isn't going anywhere you're hitting it. People don't see that on the TV, but on the court, you can feel it a lot.

"I was just trying to mix it up. At one point, I felt like I couldn't go through him, so I tried to bring him to the net and risk it with the drop shot, serve and volley. It had to be done.”

Djokovic will next take on world number one Jannik Sinner on Friday, who came victorious over Alexander Bublik 6-1, 7-5, 6-0.