French Open 2020: Who are the women's semi-finalists?
And then there were four… BBC Sport’s guide to who is who in the French Open women’s semi-finals.
And then there were four… BBC Sport’s guide to who is who in the French Open women’s semi-finals.
Novak Djokovic did not have it easy Wednesday evening at Roland Garros, overcoming neck and shoulder issues to find his form and battle past Pablo Carreno Busta in four sets to reach the semi-finals for the 10th time. Although it wasn’t perfect, the Serbian explained on court after the match that he keeps things in perspective.
Reaching the last four at a Grand Slam, whether his victory was pretty or not, is still a big accomplishment.
“These four tournaments, the four Grand Slams matter the most probably in tennis history. [They are] the most popular tennis events in the world. A lot of kids, when they take a racquet in their hands, they dream of winning Roland Garros, Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the US Open,” Djokovic said. “I’ve been very fortunate to play very well throughout my career in Grand Slams.
“It’s not only my success. It’s the success of my team, my family that has been supporting me throughout my whole life. It wasn’t easy growing up in a war-torn country and without any tennis guidance or tennis tradition, really. To succeed in this beautiful sport means a lot to me. I try to be conscious of every achievement, be grateful for it and put things in perspective.”
“A lot of kids when they take the racquet in their hands they dream of winning, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, Australian Open or US Open…”@DjokerNole out here doing his best to inspire the next generation.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/u0h1FkLOzX
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) October 7, 2020
Djokovic has won 17 Grand Slam titles, trailing only Roger Federer (20) and Rafael Nadal (19) for the most in history. The Serbian is also the only player to complete the Career Golden Masters — winning all nine ATP Masters 1000 events — which he has done twice.
The World No. 1 is still very much alive at Roland Garros after a resilient performance against 17th seed Carreno Busta, who was pursuing his first semi-final appearance in Paris.
“I’m feeling okay,” Djokovic said. “As the match progressed, I warmed up my body and the pain kind of faded away. It allowed me to play better and better and feel better.”
Djokovic made an uncharacteristic 16 unforced errors in the first set. But he cut down his mistakes, only making 25 unforced errors in the next three sets combined. The top seed will next face reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is into his maiden Roland Garros semi-final.
“He’s one of the best players in the world, deservedly where he is in [FedEx ATP] Rankings. He’s been playing the tennis of his life in the past 12 months,” Djokovic said. “He has an all-around game. He’s a big guy, big serve. He has weapons, obviously [his] serve and forehand, his backhand. He produces a lot of spin. He comes into the net. He can play aggressively. He can defend well because he moves well.”
Djokovic has won three of their five ATP Head2Head meetings, including a 6-3, 6-4 victory in their only previous clay-court clash in last year’s Mutua Madrid Open final. But the Serbian knows the 22-year-old has improved steadily since then.
“I think he’s one of the hardest-working guys out there. He has a great team, obviously his father, Patrick Mouratoglou in his corner as well,” Djokovic said. “I expect a really tough, tough match, tough challenge for both of us. [It’s the] semi-finals of a Grand Slam, this is what you expect. You expect to play a top five, top 10 player. This is what I get. I’m hopefully going to be able to feel my best and play my best.”
When Frances Tiafoe and Lorenzo Musetti met in Forli, Italy, two weeks ago, the 22-year-old found himself under attack from the start.
Carrying the momentum from a breakthrough run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome, the 18-year-old Musetti employed an all-out assault of backhand winners, drop shots and dominant serving. Tiafoe had no answer in what was his first clay-court match in more than a year.
Two weeks later, the Maryland native ensured that history wouldn’t repeat itself. Same stage, same round, same surface, different result. Tiafoe drew level with Musetti with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win in Parma on Wednesday. He needed one hour and 42 minutes to secure the second-round victory at the Internazionali di Tennis Emilia Romagna.
After their second ATP Challenger Tour encounter, Tiafoe was already looking ahead to what he expects will be a long rivalry.
“I’m happy I won this one, but we’re going to have battles for years to come,” said Tiafoe after the match. “He’s an unbelievable player and Italian tennis is doing great with him, Sinner, Berrettini and Fognini. Hopefully they keep going.
“I didn’t want to be down 0-2 against him, so I battled hard. So did he. There were some tight points at the end, but I got it done.”
On this day, Musetti was not as sharp from the back of the court and Tiafoe took full advantage. The top seed established a more consistent rhythm, converting two of three break chances, while capitalising on the colder and faster conditions.
Tiafoe is targeting a return to the Top 50 of the FedEx ATP Rankings as the 2020 season enters its final months. The former World No. 29 is finding his legs on clay after reaching the Round of 16 at the US Open in in early September.
“I was much higher ranked, but I need to play these tough matches and get my ranking back up. These are the events you have to play to get there.”
Tiafoe will next face another Italian – qualifier Filippo Baldi – in Friday’s quarter-finals. A quartet of former ATP Tour champions also reside in his half of the draw, with Federico Delbonis facing Paolo Lorenzi and Philipp Kohlschreiber battling Marco Cecchinato.
World number one Novak Djokovic overcomes physical struggles to beat Pablo Carreno Busta and reach the French Open semi-finals.
Andrey Rublev is hoping to continue his run of form through to the end of the 2020 season and possibly qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November.
Speaking after his Roland Garros quarter-final exit to Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Russian admitted, “Of course, I would like to be there. I would like to do everything, [but] in the end I cannot control this. I will do my best. I will try to fight in every tournament, then we’ll see if I deserve it or not.”
The 22-year-old has compiled a 29-7 match record on the season, including three ATP Tour titles at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha (d. Moutet), the Adelaide International (d. Harris) and the Hamburg European Open (d. Tsitsipas).
“I can be only grateful for the past couple of weeks,” admitted Rublev, who also reached the US Open quarter-finals (l. to Medvedev). “All the matches that [I have played]. I made one more quarter-final, especially after almost being out of the tournament in the first round [against Sam Querrey].”
Rublev had never won a match at Roland Garros, but battled back from two-sets-to-love down to Querrey to make his first Roland Garros quarter-final.
“There’s so many things I need to work on, so many things that I need to improve,” said Rublev. “Now is a good time to do it, and to be ready for the next season.”
“After all the tournaments that I’ve been playing, I can see what I’m missing, what I’m doing well, what I’m doing not well, what I’m doing wrong. It’s easier now to work, than during quarantine when you don’t know how to compare what [your] level is, how [are] the other guys. Now everything is clear and it’s time to work.”
Britain’s Alfie Hewett progresses to the semi-finals of the men’s wheelchair singles with a straight-set win over Stephane Houdet.
Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas reaches his first French Open semi-final with a commanding straight-set victory over Andrey Rublev.
Petra Kvitova reaches the French Open semi-finals without dropping a set, while Sofia Kenin is also through to the last four.
On Wednesday, Frances Tiafoe will get his rematch.
Two weeks ago, the American met surging 18-year-old Lorenzo Musetti for the first time at the ATP Challenger Tour stop in Forli, Italy. They would battle for more than two hours with Musetti eventually getting the better of the World No. 67, en route to his maiden title.
Tiafoe will have a chance to avenge that defeat when they roll it back on Wednesday. This time, the stage will be the Internazionali di Tennis Emilia Romagna in nearby Parma.
This Week’s Draws: Parma | Barcelona
“He’s a nice kid and he’s playing really great tennis, so it’s going to be a nice match,” said Tiafoe after defeating Blaz Rola on Tuesday. “Hopefully we can play like we did last time. He’s coming up and I need to get my ranking back up, so it will be an exciting match.”
It was in the second round in Forli that Musetti fought through a tight three-setter against Tiafoe. The Italian was coming off a breakthrough performance at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome and he would carry the momentum back to the Challenger circuit. Musetti would lift his first trophy after claiming four straight Top 100 wins, becoming the youngest to do so since 2000.
In total, 10 players inside the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings are competing in Parma. Former World No. 16 Philipp Kohlschreiber meets Italy’s Marco Cecchinato in the second round, with Rio de Janeiro finalist Gianluca Mager and two-time ATP Tour champion Federico Delbonis also in a stacked top half of the draw with Tiafoe and Musetti.
In the bottom half, #NextGenATP stars Alexei Popyrin and Tomas Machac join third seed Laslo Djere, India’s Sumit Nagal and the top Italian in the draw, Salvatore Caruso. Caruso faces Machac third on Center Court on Wednesday, preceding Tiafoe vs. Musetti.
Teen Titans
| This Week | FedEx ATP Ranking |
Post-Restart Record | |
| Lorenzo Musetti (18) | Parma | No. 138 | 11-3 (title in Forli) |
| Carlos Alcaraz (17) | Barcelona | No. 189 | 10-3 (title in Trieste) |
Meanwhile, in Barcelona, Spaniards Carlos Alcaraz and Jaume Munar headline at the Sanchez-Casal Academy. The third edition of the Challenger 80 event is the first of three Challengers in Spain in the coming weeks. Tournaments in Alicante and Marbella will follow in October.
Alcaraz is seeking his second ATP Challenger Tour crown since the COVID-19 restart in mid-August. The 17-year-old lifted the trophy in Trieste, Italy, to become the youngest Spanish champion since Rafael Nadal in 2003. He faces countryman Mario Vilella Martinez in the second round in Barcelona, following a straight-set win over third seed Pedro Sousa to open his campaign.
“These are very difficult conditions and it’s windy here, but I know I can play at a high level,” said Alcaraz.
Top seed Munar, meanwhile, is seeking a return to the Top 100 after first-round defeats at the US Open (l. to Thiem) and Roland Garros (l. to Tsitsipas). He sits at No. 109 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. Facundo Bagnis, who lifted the trophy in Biella, Italy, on Monday, is also in the draw, as is Australia’s Christopher O’Connell and #NextGenATP star Brandon Nakashima. Lorenzo Giustino, who won the longest match at Roland Garros (thus far) – 18-16 in more than six hours – returns to the court in Barcelona.
On Wednesday, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas will meet for a coveted spot in the Roland Garros semi-finals. The stage doesn’t get any bigger for the 22-year-olds, who have been battling ever since they first announced their arrivals in 2017.
It was that year that Rublev and Tsitsipas met for the first time as professionals and made their debuts in the Top 100 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. At the time, they were just teenagers looking to establish themselves on the scene. From battling in the first round of a Challenger to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, what a difference three years can make.
We open the vault ahead of the biggest encounter of their budding rivalry, going back to 2017 when they battled on the ATP Challenger Tour in Quimper, France.
Rublev was the defending champion at the Open Quimper Bretagne Occidentale, having lifted his lone Challenger trophy one year earlier. He would triumph 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7), saving two match points after one hour and 55 minutes.
