Djokovic stunned in epic Roland Garros quarterfinal
The influential Serb fell to Marco Cecchinato, who became the first Italian in 40 years to reach the French Open semis.
Italy’s Marco Cecchinato (L) embraces as he celebrates after victory over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in their men’s singles quarter-final match on day ten of The Roland Garros 2018 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on June 5, 2018. World number 72 Marco Cecchinato became the first Italian man in 40 years to reach a Grand Slam semi-final with a breathtaking 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 7-6 (13/11) epic victory over 12-time major winner Novak Djokovic. / AFP PHOTO / Eric FEFERBERG
World number 72 Marco Cecchinato became the first Italian man in 40 years to reach a Grand Slam semifinal on Tuesday with a breathtaking 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 7-6 (13/11) victory over 12-time major winner Novak Djokovic.
Cecchinato, who had never won a Grand Slam match in his career before Roland Garros, goes on to face Austrian seventh seed Dominic Thiem for a place in Sunday’s final.
In an epic fourth set tiebreaker, Djokovic saved three match points but wasted three set points as Cecchinato became the lowest-ranked man in the semi-finals in Paris since 100th-ranked Andrei Medvedev in 1999.
In a roller-coaster of a quarter-final, both men were warned for coaching, 2016 champion Djokovic required two medical timeouts while the Italian was docked a point for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Djokovic had also squandered three set points in the second set and failed to serve out the fourth in the ninth game after being 5-2 in front.
In an extraordinary post-match press conference, Djokovic then said he may even skip Wimbledon where he has been champion three times.
“I don’t know if I am going to play on grass,” said the Serb.
Cecchinato said he was stunned by his triumph, coming just two years after his career was almost derailed when he became embroiled in match fixing allegations.
“Maybe I’m sleeping. It’s amazing, it’s unbelievable for me. I’m very happy because it’s unbelievable to beat Novak Djokovic in a quarter-final at Roland Garros. It’s amazing,” said the 25-year-old who is the first Italian to get this far at a Slam since Corrado Barazzutti at Roland Garros in 1978.
“I was two breaks down on the tie-breaker and I had two or three match points and then on the fourth one I was very tired.”
Djokovic saluted Cecchinato who he warmly embraced at the net.
“He played amazing, so congratulations for a great performance,” he said.
Thiem reached his third successive French Open semi-final with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 demolition of a hobbled and exhausted Alexander Zverev who admitted he was close to quitting the tie.
German second seed Zverev simply ran out of gas, paying a heavy price for needing three successive five-set matches to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
His Roland Garros marathon also left him physically drained — he needed his left thigh strapped in the second set.
“He is one of the fittest guys on the tour so it was difficult for him today,” said Thiem, the only man to have defeated 10-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal on clay this year.
“I hope we have many more matches at the Grand Slams but when we are 100 percent.”
The statistics made bleak reading for Zverev — he finished with 42 unforced errors and just 19 winners.
