World number two Andy Murray and defending champion Stan Wawrinka will face each other on the main Court Philippe Chatrier following the match between women’s holder Serena Williams and Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens.
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Only Roger Federer, with 39, and Jimmy Connors, with 31, have participated in more in the Open era.
The Austrian had one last chance to prolong his afternoon with a break point in the 10th game as Djokovic served for the match.
An apologetic Novak Djokovic on Thursday escaped disqualification after his racquet nearly hit a line judge during his French Open quarter-final win over Tomas Berdych at Roland Garros.
Williams, 34, was given a severe test by Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, coming through 5-7 6-4 6-1.
Djokovic’s victim Bautista Agut said officials had “pushed us to play two hours yesterday” – the threshold needed to avoid reimbursing any money to ticket-holders – while Venus Williams labelled the conditions “really bad” after being ambushed 6-2 6-4 by Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky.
Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams booked their places in the semifinals of the French Open on Thursday, as the draw caught up with its original schedule. “We were playing two and a half sets in the light rain”.
Murray won’t under-estimate Wawrinka who stunned Djokovic in last year’s final.
The No. 12-seeded Goffin won the first set and then had set point at 7-6 in the tiebreaker in the second set.
Austria’s Dominic Thiem thumbs up after defeating Belgium’s David Goffin during their quarterfinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Thursday, June 2, 2016 in Paris. What’s the point of this?’ The court won’t get better.
Belgian 12th seed David Goffin tackles close friend and 13th seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem with the victor reaching the semi-finals at a major for the first time.
“I did not start this tournament the way I wanted but today I played my best match of the tournament”, said Djokovic.
“I didn’t think I was going to win that in the second set, a relieved Williams said”.
Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic at the French Open.
Stat of the Day: 19 – Grand Slam semifinals reached by Murray. “It’s hard to dictate the play in these conditions, it makes it tough tactically”, Djokovic said courtside.
It was a momentous day for Thiem and Goffin as they moved into the last eight of a grand slam for the first time, and both men struggled to contain their excitement as they eye the semi-finals. “Our aim was to play for as long as possible, even if that meant being criticised for playing in hard conditions”.
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Top seed Djokovic tackles seventh seed Tomas Berdych boasting a career dominance of 23-2 over the Czech.
