Novak Djokovic achieved the amazing feat of defeating Rafael Nadal at the French Open for a shot at the Double Career Grand Slam.The world No. 1 now holds the accolade of being the only player to have beaten Nadal twice at the Paris Slam, as the Spaniard suffered only his third ever loss at Roland Garros.
The ‘King of Clay’ looked in complete control in the opening set, racing to a 5-0 lead before Djokovic clawed it back to 5-3, before Nadal eventually closed out the set on his serve.
The Serb did not lie down though, responding well to claim the second set by the same scoreline. One set apiece.
Both men were playing out-of-this-world tennis, including this ridiculous exchange where Djokovic finally came out on top.
Despite twice going up a break and serving for the set, Djokovic was unable to claim the advantage before a tiebreak, claiming it 7-6 (7-4) in a set that took over 90 minutes to play.
With the 11pm local curfew approaching, public authorities agreed to allow fans to remain in the stadium until the end of the match, avoiding the mess of forcing spectators to leave in the middle of an epic.
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🎤 “En accord avec les autorités publiques, le match va pouvoir aller à son terme avec les spectateurs, c’est une tolérance accordée compte tenu du caractère tout à fait exceptionnel des circonstances”. #RolandGarrospic.twitter.com/PMJUrWmNrN— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 11, 2021
Entering the fourth, Nadal broke immediately to go up 2-0, before Djokovic roared back to win four games in a row, holding again for 5-2 and forcing Nadal to serve to stay in the match.
Nadal did then hold, before Djokovic finally served out the match after over four hours and ten minutes on-court.
Djokovic will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final for a chance to hold at least two titles at all four Slams and become the first man in the Open Era to claim the Double Career Grand Slam.
