Djokovic celebrates in triumph, his first in a semi-final on the secondary Suzanne Lenglen court forced on by a rain-disrupted week.
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World number one Djokovic holds a 4-2 advantage from the pair’s six previous major finals, but Murray won when they met on the clay in the final of the Rome Masters last month and will be full of confidence after dismantling Wawrinka on Court Phillipe Chatrier.
Britain’s Andy Murray ended the French Open reign of Stan Wawrinka on Friday (Saturday NZ Time), downing the defending champion in four sets to reach his first Roland Garros final, where he will face the might of world number one Novak Djokovic.
“Beating the best players gives you a boost but it’s more the way that I played that gives me more confidence”, said Murray of his final chances.
The No. 12-seeded Goffin had set point in the tiebreaker and led Thiem 4-2 in the third set before Thiem reeled off nine straight games to lead 5-0 in the fourth.
Murray didn’t make it to the finals as easily, but he didn’t have a whole lot of trouble with Stan Wawrinka. Murray closed out the match in the fourth set with two further breaks of serve.
But the 29-year-old Serb, who will face Dominic Thiem of Austria on Friday for a spot in the final, admitted he was lucky to escape being kicked out of the tournament in the second game of the third set. Instead, the upcoming match will be a rematch of the finals of the first Grand Slam in 2016.
The first set against Thiem saw Djokovic assert himself early, breaking in the second game to put his opponent under immediate pressure. With neither woman venturing often to the net or able to dominate the long groundstroke rallies, the first set turned into an attritional contest that featured seven breaks of serve.
“I’m extremely proud, I never expected to reach this final”.
Roland Garros is paying out a tournament record €32 million ($36 million) this year, while the U.S. Open is planning for $50 million next year in prize money, the most of any major.
The pair began their match just after midday on Tuesday, already a day late, and finally completed it at 1.47pm yesterday, with Djokovic winning 3-6 6-4 6-1 7-5.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams target French Open semi-final spots on Thursday as history looms for both of the world’s top players.
“Of course semis is a very good result for me but right now I’m really still thinking about the match, still thinking about the loss and after every loss I’m disappointed”, he said. “I know his game; he knows mine”.
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He also handled the occasion superbly, maintaining his focus throughout and not allowing the crowd, who roared when Wawrinka won the third set, to distract him.
