French Open: Rafael Nadal Claims High-Stakes Win Over Novak Djokovic

PARIS: Spanish stalwart and winner of 13 titles at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal, secured his 15th semifinal appearance at the French Open by edging arch-rival and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in an epic quarterfinal showdown in the early hours of Wednesday.

The No.5 seed won a breath-taking tiebreak in the fourth set to wrap up victory over the top seed in four hours and 12 minutes at 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

The 13-time Roland Garros champion, beaten by the world number one in the semi-finals here last year, arrived in Paris on the back of two injuries that had hampered his preparations.

Rafa led the first set while Djoko stormed back in the second.

Both players stretched each other, especially in the second set, when Djoko broke Rafa and found a window back into the match.

Rafa reasserted himself with a dominant third set. Djoko started strongest in the fourth, but Rafa denied his attempt to serve out the set and powered to victory in a one-sided tie-break.

"He was the better player in the important moments. He showed why he's a great champion. Staying there mentally tough and finishing the match the way he did. Congrats to him and his team. No doubt he deserved it," said Djokovic.

"In the end it has been a very emotional night for me. I'm still playing for nights like today," said Nadal.

"But it's just a quarterfinals match. So I didn't win anything. I just give myself a chance to be back on court in two days. Playing another semifinal here in Roland Garros means a lot to me," he added.

Next for Nadal is third seed Alexander Zverev, who overcame Spanish sensational teenager Carlos Alcaraz in another dramatic clash earlier on Tuesday. The German needed to dig deep to hold off Alcaraz's fight-back in the third set to clinch the win 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7) after three hours and 18 minutes.

This was the first time the 25-year-old Zverev defeated a top-10 opponent at a Grand Slam in 12 attempts and his victory came against a player who came into the contest having won 14 consecutive matches.

Zverev, who lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2021 semi-final, had a 2-1 head-to-head lead against Alcaraz but his opponent had won their most recent meeting — the only one on clay — this month in the final of the ATP Masters in Madrid.

Alcaraz made 56 unforced errors as Zverev saved a set point in the fourth set tiebreak before converting his second matchpoint to set up a meeting against Rafa Nadal.

"At the end of the day I knew I had to play absolutely my best tennis today from the start," a beaming Zverev said on court. "He kept coming back.

"He is going to win this tournament a lot of times not just once. I hope I can win it before he starts beating us all and I have no chance." Agencies

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