Novak Djokovic swats aside Dominic Thiem to reach French Open final
Updated 03/06/2016 at 17:14 GMT
Novak Djokovic moved to within one victory of clinching a maiden French Open title by swatting aside Dominic Thiem 6-2 6-1 6-4 in the semi-finals.
The Roland Garros trophy is a rare omission in the Serb’s trophy cabinet, but he may only have to wait until Sunday to end his quest after roaring into his fourth final in Paris.
"I had to play my best tennis on some points," Djokovic said.
"I did not start this tournament the way I wanted but today I played my best match of the tournament," said Djokovic.
I have been dreaming all year long of reaching the Roland Garros final.
The imperious world No.1 relinquished just three games in the opening two sets, before finding life mildly tougher in the third as he slipped a break behind.
But Djokovic is well-versed in staging mid-set fight backs and duly reeled off five of the last six games to book a showdown with Andy Murray, who overcame Stan Wawrinka in four sets.
The 29-year-old would become the eighth player to complete a career Slam with victory in two days’ time – and hold all four titles in the process.
Djokovic has enjoyed a fine run on the red dust in 2016, winning in Madrid and reaching the final in Rome prior to Roland Garros, and has dropped just one set en route to the final.
However, the duel against Murray – his conqueror in Italy – will prove a trickier prospect. The second seeded Brit was majestic in dismantling Wawrinka 6-4 6-2 4-6 6-2 in the other semi-final and is also chasing a maiden crown in the French capital.
Join 3M+ users on app
Download
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article