Novak Djokovic to face Dominic Thiem in French Open semi-finals

Novak Djokovic reached the French Open semi-finals with a straight sets victory against Alexander Zverev – his 26th consecutive Grand Slam win.

The world No 1 won 7-5 6-2 6-2 against the German fifth seed in one hour and fifty minutes to maintain his bid to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously for the second time.

Djokovic, who completed the career Grand Slam when he won the French Open in 2016, remains the only player in the men’s draw yet to lose a set.

The 15-time Grand Slam champion will face last year’s runner-up Dominic Thiem, who beat Russian 10th seed Karen Khachanov 6-2 6-4 6-2.

Djokovic, who has not lost a Grand Slam match since defeat to Marco Cecchinato at the same stage of the French Open last year, was under threat on serve for the majority of the first set.

The Serb saved three break points before he was eventually broken in the ninth game but the 32-year-old immediately broke back, when Zverev served for the first set.

Djokovic then sealed a decisive second break of Zverev’s serve, whose precision was deserting him, in the first set courtesy of a double fault on the top seed’s third set point.

He took command of the match with another break in the second game of the second set and continued to produce consistent and accurate baseline hitting to prevent Zverev from working his way back into the match.

Zverev was broken in the eighth game as he served three double faults in a row to move Djokovic a set closer to victory.

After saving two break points in the opening game of the third set, Djokovic was momentarily jeered by the crowd on Court Phillipe-Chatrier as he flung his racket to the ground in frustration.

Both players had produced moments of brilliance during the encounter, including an exquisite drop shot by Djokovic, who broke two further times in the third set to complete another resounding victory.

Meanwhile, Thiem, whose semi-final was being played concurrently over on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, demonstrated why he is viewed as the biggest challenger to Djokovic and 11-time champion Rafael Nadal.

The Austrian did not face a single break point on serve as his opponent Khachanov, competing in his first Grand Slam quarter-final, made 37 unforced errors.

Thiem, who lost to Nadal in last year’s final, has now reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the past four years and beat Djokovic in straight sets the last time they met in Paris two years ago.

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(c) Sky News 2019: Novak Djokovic to face Dominic Thiem in French Open semi-finals