Novak Djokovic has once again managed to find the solution to reach yet another Roland Garros semifinal. The Serbian legend had to face Pablo Carreno Busta that is a notoriously tricky customer. Pablo was the player that witnessed first hand Novak’s famous defaulting at the US Open as the Spaniard was on the other part of the net during that weird episode. in Paris, Carreno-Busta had a great start against Djokovic to break the resistance world no.1 and win the first set 6-4, but then something happened…
Djokovic’s controversial time-out and injuries
Novak didn’t seem to be at his very best. He took the court with a rather big bandage on his neck, and apparently he was struggling with his left arm. Therefore, Djokovic took a lengthy medical time-out, and then he came back on court in the best possible way to completely turn the match around and win 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4.
Many didn’t like Novak’s medical time-out as the Serbian ace he used to get them when he is on the wrong side of the scoreline so as to be accused of using the breaks to halt the momentum of his opponents. It is still fresh in the memory when Novak got a “weird” medical time-out when he was losing to Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open final when he was clearly struggling from a psychological point of view. Novak looked like a completely different person when the game resumed, but it didn’t seem he had any physical issue then. Some jokingly said that he took a “spiritual” time-out.
During the press conference that followed his quarterfinal, Novak gave some updates about what has happened to his body in Paris.
“I definitely didn’t feel great coming onto the court today, a few things happened in the warm-up.
I had some neck issues and some shoulder issues. I don’t really want to get too much into it.I’m feeling OK, I’m still in the tournament so I don’t want to reveal too much. As the match went on, I felt better, didn’t feel as much pain.”
Carreno-Busta didn’t take that stop nicely, saying that it is just Novak’s custom to use these time-outs to break his opponents’ rhythm. However, the Spaniard should have been more solid when the match resumed.
Next vs. Tsitsipas
Novak will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinal. Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas played each other 5 times. The head to head is 3-2 for Djokovic. The last time that they locked horns, Novak Djokovic won 6-3 6-4 in the final in Dubai (Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships) on the 29th of February 2020.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
Djokovic at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2020
Ranked no.1, the Serbian has a 36-1 win-loss record in 2020. Novak is competing at the French Open where he ousted Mikael Ymer 6-0 6-2 6-3, Richard Berankis 6-1 6-2 6-2, Daniel Elahi Galan 6-0 6-3 6-2, Karen Khachanov 6-4 6-3 6-3 and Pablo Carreno-Busta 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4.
Novak has won 4 titles in 2020 at the Australian Open, in Dubai, in New York and in Rome. Novak won 82 titles in his career: 48 on hard courts, 15 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 6 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Tsitsipas at the French Open, ranking, and results in 2020
Ranked no.6, Stefanos has a 25-9 win-loss record in 2020. Stefanos is playing at the French Open where he defeated Jaume Antoni Munar Clar 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-4 6-4, Pablo Cuevas 6-1 6-4 6-2, Aljaz Bedene 6-1 6-2 3-1 ret., Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 7-69 6-2 and Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-2 6-3.
The Greek conquered 1 title in 2020 in Marseille. Stefanos was the finalist in Dubai and in Hamburg.Stefanos won 5 titles in his career: 1 on clay courts and 4 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas |
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