French Open 2021: Maria Sakkari sets up semi-final with Barbora Krejcikova
Maria Sakkari beats defending champion Iga Swiatek to reach her maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open.
Maria Sakkari beats defending champion Iga Swiatek to reach her maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open.
Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev criticises French Open organisers for putting his quarter-final with Stefanos Tsitsipas on at night without fans.
Through four rounds at Roland Garros, tournament favourites, 13-time champion Rafael Nadal and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, have played hundreds of points. Statistically, very little has separated them.
Nadal’s clear advantage is that he has not lost a set. Only three of the Spaniard’s 12 sets have gone further than 6-3. The lefty is the only man in the Open Era to win four Grand Slam titles without losing a set, and he is trying to make it five this fortnight. Only his quarter-final opponent, Diego Schwartzman, has also reached the last eight without dropping a set.
Djokovic needed to rally from two sets down against #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the fourth round. But in reality, because the Serbian turned around that match so emphatically, he has stayed on par with Nadal — if not ahead of the Spaniard — in most statistical categories.
2021 Roland Garros Stats (Until QFs)
| Player | Novak Djokovic | Rafael Nadal |
| Aces | 30 | 17 |
| Double Faults | 10 | 17 |
| 1st Serve Pts Won | 79.4% (197/248) | 81.4% (162/199) |
| 2nd Serve Pts Won | 54.2% (64/118) | 52.3% (68/130) |
| Return Pts Won | 47.5% (173/364) | 48% (162/337) |
| Break Pts Saved | 84.2% (16/19) | 55.6% (10/18) |
| Break Pts Converted | 67.6% (25/37) | 49.1% (26/53) |
| Net Pts Won | 65.6% (59/90) | 78.7% (48/61) |
| Winners | 148 | 130 |
| Unforced Errors | 103 | 105 |
| Time On Court | 9:06 | 9:01 |
| Sets Lost | 2 | 0 |
The most glaring difference between the two has been in the highest-pressure moments. Djokovic has excelled when facing break points and trying to convert break points. Entering this tournament, the World No. 1 had only saved 61.4 per cent of break points faced in 2021 according to Infosys ATP Stats. In Paris, he has saved 84.2 per cent of them, only losing his serve three times.
Djokovic has converted 67.6 per cent of his break opportunities, which is better than his pre-Roland Garros season mark of 44.2 per cent. Although Nadal has earned more service breaks through four matches (26-25), the Spaniard has only taken advantage of 49.1 per cent of his chances.
When you strip aces and double faults from Djokovic and Nadal’s winner and unforced error counts, they are extremely close. Outside of the serve, Nadal has hit 1.28 winners for every unforced error on the terre battue (113-88) and Djokovic has struck 1.27 winners per unforced error (118-93).
The lefty has enjoyed a lot of success coming to net. Nadal has won nearly 79 per cent of his net points compared to 65.6 per cent for Djokovic, and he might try to add to that against Schwartzman, who is a baseliner.
Nadal and Djokovic have also spent nearly the same amount of time on court to reach the quarter-finals. Djokovic has spent just five more minutes on the Parisian clay, despite his five-setter against Musetti, in which the Italian retired during the fifth set.
The all-time greats could meet in the semi-finals on Friday. But first, they will need to get through their quarter-finals on Wednesday, when Nadal battles Schwartzman and Djokovic takes on Matteo Berrettini.
Drop shots, tweener lobs, and “a very millennial shot” – Stefanos Tsitsipas had to overcome every weapon in Daniil Medvedev’s arsenal on Tuesday night, but the Greek player passed the test with flying colours to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros.
In an exchange that summed up the 6-3, 7-6(3), 7-5 encounter, Tsitsipas had worked his way to match point on Medvedev’s serve in the third set. From nowhere, the second-seeded Russian struck the most unexpected shot from his typically unorthodox game: an underarm serve.
But Tsitsipas seemed to read it perfectly, and didn’t panic when Medvedev rushed in behind it. Instead, Tsitsipas blasted a backhand winner up the line to clinch the victory.
“A very millennial shot, so true,” the fifth seed commented in his post-match press conference. “Well, once he took like a short break, I saw he stopped. I felt like there was something coming up, so at that point I think I got prepared for it.
“It’s that, like, less of a second when you realise something is about to change from a regular [serve]. It was fine. I [did] what I had to do.”
That’s what the 22-year-old Greek player has been doing all fortnight long: working hard, staying prepared, and taking care of business to return to the semi-finals in Paris for the second year in a row.
The FedEx ATP Race To Turin leader has only dropped one set en route to the last four, in the third round against big-serving John Isner. He’s been on song with wins over Jeremy Chardy, Pedro Martinez and 12th seed Pablo Carreno Busta, and overcame the mental challenge of his 1-6 ATP Head2Head against Medvedev in the quarter-finals for a tour-leading 38th win on the season.
“I’m playing good. That will show by itself,” Tsitsipas said. “I don’t think there’s a player out there [in the draw] that thinks they can’t win the tournament. I’m pretty sure they all know they can play well.
“Of course I’m playing good [too], and I think if I keep repeating the process, keep repeating the everyday hustle that I put [in], for sure there’s going to be a reward. And why not?”
After reaching his third consecutive Grand Slam semi-final, the Greek player told press he is still hungry for more.
Standing between Tsitsipas and his first appearance in the championship match of a major will be sixth seed Alexander Zverev, whom he leads 5-2 in their ATP Head2Head. It will be the youngest Roland Garros semi-final since Rafael Nadal, 22, defeated Novak Djokovic, 21, here in 2008. But Tsitsipas won’t be satisfied emulating the Big Three or setting ‘youngest since’ records for much longer – he wants to leave his own mark on the game.
“I feel privileged that I’m in that position,” Tsitsipas said. “I feel obviously I’ve put in a lot of daily hard work and [that] has been a key element of me being here. But my ego tells me I want more.”
Daniil Medvedev is typically the player who confounds opponents on the court. But after losing in straight sets against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday evening in the Roland Garros quarter-finals, the Russian admitted that the Greek — whom he called “a great player” — surprised him early on with his impressive play. The second seed was never able to fully recover.
“That’s why it went so easy on his side, because I didn’t expect such a great level from him,” Medvedev said. “I felt like I played good guys like [Alexander] Bublik, [Cristian] Garin, Tommy Paul actually, who played good from baseline. I felt that I was on top of them in the rallies, so I felt I could continue doing this today like on the hard courts.
“It was not the case so I had to change. I had to go more aggressive. I feel I’ve done a lot of good things today, but it was not enough to win, and that’s unfortunate.”
Medvedev arrived in Paris with an 0-4 record at the clay-court major, but he found his footing on the terre battue with victories against dangerous foes in Alexander Bublik, Tommy Paul, Reilly Opelka and Cristian Garin. In those matches, the World No. 2 dropped just one set. But against Tsitsipas, the Greek was simply better.
“Every time I don’t win a tournament, it’s kind of a disappointment,” Medvedev said. “I was feeling good straight away, so I was like, ‘I can do good results.’ But before coming here, if anybody would tell me I would be in [the] quarters losing to Tsitsipas in a tough match, I would sign. I will not lie, I would sign, especially being 0-4 in the first rounds before.”
Medvedev had two set points in the second set and led by a break in the third set, so the match was closer than the scoreline. The Russian just was unable to capitalise on his openings to put even more pressure on the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion.
“I think [it was a] great tournament, great fight today. I was fighting until the last point,” Medvedev said. “If we talk about the last point, that was tactically [what] I wanted to do [with] this serve, it was not that I wanted to leave the court or anything.”
The Russian was referencing match point, when he hit an underarm serve and rushed to the net. Tsitsipas replied by crushing a backhand to seal his victory after two hours and 19 minutes.
“I was thinking about it during the whole match, that maybe [on an] important point I could do it, because my opinion [is] that he was quite far back in the court, so that can always work,” Medvedev said. “But I didn’t see the opportunity before, and this one I felt that he was kind of on top of me, so I thought it’s going to be a good choice to bring him [a] surprise. I sometimes do it in practice. Usually guys are a bit surprised.
“It didn’t work out at all. He had an easy ball to finish. He made it. But again, as I said, it was tactical, and I won’t say it was a mistake. It was something that I dared to do and just maybe next time I won’t do it knowing that he’s ready.”
Besides losing an opportunity at reaching the semi-finals, the Russian also missed a chance to claim the No. 1 spot in the FedEx ATP Rankings this fortnight. If Medvedev won the title, or if he reached the final and Novak Djokovic failed to do so, the 25-year-old would have climbed to World No. 1 next Monday.
Now the Russian’s chances at making the top of tennis’ mountain during the grass season will depend on how Djokovic performs the rest of Roland Garros. For now, Medvedev leaves Paris knowing he gave all he had against Tsitsipas, and just fell short.
“I was fighting, I was adjusting my tactics after the first set where he was definitely much better than me,” Medvedev admitted. “He was up a break [in the second set], I tried to fight back, and I feel like he won a great tennis match.”
Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beats Russia’s Daniil Medvedev to set up a French Open semi-final against Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
Fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was in superb form as he charged past Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6(3), 7-5 on Tuesday night to book a place in the Roland Garros semi-finals.
The FedEx ATP Race To Turin leader overcame the surging Medvedev, who was into this stage in Paris for the first time, to earn his first victory over the Russian since 2019 and improve to 2-6 in their ATP Head2Head.
Both players came in with perfect 3-0 records in Grand Slam quarter-final matches. But after two hours and 21 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier it was Tsitsipas who went on to reach the semi-finals in Paris for the second year in a row and his third consecutive Grand Slam semi-final (also 2021 Australian Open).
“I’m playing good, and I think if I keep repeating the process, keep repeating the everyday hustle that I put, for sure there’s going to be a reward, and why not,” Tsitsipas said.
Tsitsipas will next face sixth seed Alexander Zverev as he seeks to reach the championship match at a major for the first time. He leads the German 5-2 in their ATP Head2Head (1-0 on clay courts). The clash between 22-year-old Tsitsipas and 24-year-old Zverev will be the youngest Grand Slam semi-final since 22-year-old Andy Murray defeated 21-year-old Marin Cilic at the Australian Open in 2010. It is also the youngest Roland Garros semi-final since Rafael Nadal, 22, defeated Novak Djokovic, 21, here in 2008.
The second seed’s defeat also ended his bid to unseat Novak Djokovic at World No. 1. Medvedev would have risen to the top of the FedEx ATP Rankings by reaching the final if Djokovic did not, or by winning his maiden Grand Slam title in Paris.
Tsitsipas was clinical in the opening set, bossing the rallies and exposing Medvedev’s lacklustre movement on clay courts. The Greek only lost four points on his serve – no more than one point per game – and won 85 per cent (17/20) of points behind his strong first delivery.
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That left Medvedev under pressure as Tsitsipas regularly pulled him into the court with smart approaches: Tsitsipas won 9/10 points at the net to Medvedev’s 1/3. Tsitsipas broke early for a 3-1 lead and never looked back as he took the opening set in just 30 minutes.
Medvedev finally found his footing in the second, and employed a bit more variety – everything from the serve-and-volley combo, to a successful tweener lob – to keep Tsitsipas on his toes. The Russian recovered after going down another break at 2-1, and responded by raising his level and taking control of the rallies with his groundstrokes.
Can’t hit the tweener lob any better ?#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/QYg5HN1HeZ
— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 8, 2021
Increasingly coming to the net – where he won 100 per cent (9/9) of points – and looking more comfortable moving around the court, Medvedev got them back on serve at 3-3 and stayed toe-to-toe with Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas found some big first serves when Medvedev worked his way to two set points at 5-4, and took them into a tie-break. But the fifth seed was clinical in the deciding tilt to take a two-set lead.
The pair were locked into a tense battle as Medvedev looked to make a fast start after dropping the second set. He created five break opportunities on the Tsitsipas serve, and finally converted to take a 4-2 lead. But Tsitsipas never let Medvedev race ahead, and responded by winning eight of the next nine points to break straight back and take back control for 5-4.
Down match point at 6-5, Medvedev inexplicably served and volleyed behind an underarm serve that popped up into Tsitsipas’ strike zone, and the Greek player gleefully spanked a down-the-line topspin backhand winner to seal the match.
“I felt like there was something coming up, so at that point I think I got prepared for it,” Tsitsipas said of Medvedev’s underarm serve. “It’s that less of a second when you realize something is about to change from a regular [serve]. It was fine. I mean, I [did] what I had to do.”
Did You Know?
At 22 years 305 days, Tsitsipas is bidding to become the youngest Grand Slam men’s singles champion since Juan Martin del Potro won the 2009 US Open aged 20 years 355 days. (Ages calculated at the end of the tournament.)
It is not long ago that Alexander Zverev struggled in Grand Slams, failing to reach the quarter-finals on his first 11 attempts. Now the German, who advanced to the Roland Garros semi-finals on Tuesday, has become a fixture deep in the majors. The sixth seed said that he has learned from his early-career mistakes.
“The Grand Slams are the tournaments that we want to win the most. Before maybe the past few years, I was putting too much pressure on myself,” Zverev said. “Before [Daniil] Medvedev and [Stefanos] Tsitsipas arrived, I was seen as this guy who was going to all of a sudden take over the tennis world. I was putting pressure on myself as well.
“I was not very patient with myself, which I feel like now maybe I learned how to deal with the situation a little bit better. I’m maybe a little bit calmer at the tournaments. But the end goal hasn’t changed.”
It was not that Zverev was not playing well overall. He lifted three ATP Masters 1000 trophies before reaching his first major quarter-final.
“For a long period of time I was winning [ATP Masters 1000s], the [Nitto ATP] Finals, but I couldn’t get quite deep in Grand Slams. I was putting bricks on myself,” Zverev said. “In a way I was not performing to the level that I was in other tournaments. I was not playing the same level. I was very impatient with myself.”
Since breaking through to the last eight at Roland Garros in 2018, Zverev has made it at least to the quarter-finals in six of his 12 Grand Slam appearances, including this tournament.
“Very rarely does anybody come in and all of a sudden perform his best at Grand Slams. Yes, we’ve seen Rafa do it, but Rafa is sometimes not human [with] what he’s achieved,’ Zverev said of 13-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal. “I think for young guys it is a learning curve. Hopefully I can say that slowly but surely I’m starting to get the hang of it.”
Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
This year’s Madrid champion did not pay much attention that Nadal and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic are on the other half of the draw. Zverev paid respect to the likes of World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and the dangerous opponents he had to deal with.
“It’s nice that I didn’t play Rafa or Novak in the quarter-finals,” Zverev said. “[But] I think playing Rafa here in the finals, for example, is even worse. It’s even more difficult. But I also [need] to get there first.”
Zverev began this tournament down two sets in the first round against Oscar Otte. But now, he has a chance to reach his second Grand Slam final.
“I’m in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam and I’ve played solid so far. I know that the matches [from] the semi-finals on are not going to get easier,” Zverev said. “I think the opponents there are extremely difficult to beat, so I’ve got to play the same or raise my level even higher to have a chance.”
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will aim to set up their latest showdown when both contest French Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.
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