Novak Djokovic becomes second-oldest man to reach Roland Garros semifinals in Open Era

When Novak Djokovic faced Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the Australian Open in January, he entered the match under a cloud of uncertainy. After injuring his leg in a quarterfinal victory over Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic only had enough in the tank for one set of tennis before retiring from the match with a muscle tear.

In their next major meeting, on Wednesday night in Paris, there was no such uncertainty. Even after dropping the first set, Djokovic quickly asserted command, and all told, rolled into a staggering 51st career Grand Slam semifinal and 13th in Paris, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

With the win, Djokovic is the second-oldest man to reach Roland Garros semifinals in Open Era; only Pancho Gonzales in 1968 was older, at age 40. But Djokovic didn't look much of his 38 years against Zverev, who was seeking his first completed major win against the former world No. 1. Utilizing the drop shot to great effect, Djokovic ran the No. 3 seed around Court Philippe-Chatrier for three hours and 14 minutes, eventually extending his all-time record amongst men for major semifinals reached. He was also only broken once, in the first game of the match.

“Beating one of the best players in the world on the biggest stages is something that I definitely work for, and I still, you know, push myself on a daily basis at this age because of these kinds of matches and these kinds of experiences,” Djokovic said afterwards. “It's a proven kind of testament to myself that I can and to others that I can still play on the highest level.”

Djokovic's strategy of changing the pace was two-fold, he later said, in an attempt to combat cool and windy conditions inside Chatrier and Zverev's baseline prowess.

“Especially during the last game, my tactic was just to play drop shots,” Djokovic said. “So I played three or four in a row… Maybe you can’t see it on TV, but there is a lot of wind from one side, so it gives the sensation that you must hit twice as hard. It was important to vary the game.”

“From that end, [I] was almost playing against two players,” he later confessed. “I feel like the ball is not going anywhere you are hitting it. At one point, you know, I felt like I couldn't go through him, so I try to bring him to the net. I try to risk it with the drop shot, serve and volley. It had to be done.”

Djokovic finished the match with 42 winners, and won the point on 27 of his 37 trips forward.

Djokovic advances to a semifnal meeting against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner for their first meeting at a Grand Slam tournament since the Italian topped him in a four-set semifinal during his first Australian Open victory last January. No man has beaten the Top 3 players in the ATP rankings to win a Grand Slam since the computer rankings were established; Djokovic could do that if he beats both Sinner and No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, who will face No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti in the other semifinal.

"Jannik is in tremendous form, and he has been the best player for the last couple of years, deservedly," Djokovic said. "He's been playing some terrific tennis, attacking tennis, and just super strong from every aspect of his game.

"I haven't played him now in quite some time, and, you know, we always had some exciting matches. At one point I think we played three, four matches in a very short amount of time on hard court, but I don't think -- we played maybe once I think on clay in Monte-Carlo years ago.

"Yeah, it's going to be of course semifinals of a Grand Slam against the No. 1 in the world. There is no bigger occasion for me, so I'll try to do my best to step it up and perform as well as I did tonight."