French Open: Novak Djokovic overcomes Berrettini to set up semis clash with Rafael Nadal

Serbia`s Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Italy`s Matteo Berrettini during their men`s singles quarter-final tennis match on Day 11 of The Roland Garros 2021 French Open tennis tournament in Paris. Pic/AFP

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic set up a semi-final clash with old rival Rafael Nadal after he defeated big-hitting Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 in a three-hour-28-minute quarter-final here at the Roland Garros late on Wednesday night.

Djokovic overcame a cut in his left hand that saw his racquet dripping with blood immediately after the crowd had been cleared from the stands in the fourth set due to the 11 pm night curfew in Paris.

Even though Djokovic won the first set with a scoreline that suggested the game was one-sided, it took him 52 minutes to seal it.

Berrettini fired 11 aces to Djokovic's 10 during the match but fell short of the Serb on other yardsticks.

The Italian failed to convert any of the three break-points he got while the 2016 French Open champion converted four of the nine break points he got.

The Serb won 77 per cent of his first-serve points against Berrettini's 71 per cent and won 67 per cent of second serve points against 45 per cent by Berrettini.

Djokovic, who became only the second player after Roger Federer (46) to reach Grand Slam semi-finals on 40 occasions with Wednesday night's win, needed a few games to get into a rhythm against the Italian who enjoyed an extra rest day after a walkover against Federer.

Berrettini got three chances to break Djokovic in the first four games, but the Serb held on to win the first two sets. Berrettini came back by winning the third set in a tie-breaker. He stretched his rival in the fourth set before the Serb sealed it and the match 7-5.

Djokovic and Nadal's semi-final clash will be a rematch of last year's final and while Djokovic leads Nadal 29-28 in head-to-head, the Spaniard world No. 3 is better on clay with 19-7 record.

Also Read: French Open champ Rafael Nadal drops first set since 2019 but moves into semis

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