Say it with us: Mar-co Check-in-aah-toe, Ro-land Gar-ros sem-i-fin-al-ist. The 25-year-old Italian pulled off his biggest win yet on Tuesday, beating 2016 champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-6(11) to reach the semi-finals in Paris.

Marco Cecchinato, No 72 in the ATP Rankings, becomes the lowest-ranked Roland Garros semi-finalist since No. 100 Andrei Medvedev in 1999. The Palermo native is also the first Italian man to make a Grand Slam semi-final since Corrado Barazzutti at the 1978 Roland Garros.

Cecchinato will next face Austrian Dominic Thiem in their first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. The seventh seed beat German Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 earlier Tuesday to reach his third consecutive Roland Garros semi-final. Thiem has never made a Grand Slam final.

Before Paris, however, Cecchinato had never even won a Grand Slam match, losing at the 2015 US Open (l. Mardy Fish), 2016 Australian Open (l. Nicolas Mahut), 2016 Roland Garros (l. Nick Kyrgios), and 2017 Wimbledon (l. Nishikori). Cecchinato fell in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying last year.

But he’s put it all together this fortnight, and he executed his gameplan well – mixing in aggression with touch – to stun the former No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Cecchinato jumped out to a one-set lead by hugging the baseline and taking the ball early. He also played a thinking man’s game, drop shotting Djokovic with success.

After the first set, Djokovic received treatment on the back of his right shoulder and his neck, and the Italian broke to start. But the Serbian began to step into the court and dictate with his forehand more often.

Djokovic had three set points with Cecchinato serving at 5-6, but the World No. 72 saved them all and converted his first such opportunity with a forehand winner behind Djokovic in the tie-break.

Something changed, however, in Cecchinato in the third set as he was broken four times. He chatted more often with the umpire about line calls, and to start the fourth, he received a point penalty because of coaching violations.

The fourth was more of the same, as Djokovic remained focused and Cecchinato’s shotmaking – backhands on the line followed by drop-shot winners – was lacking. Until it wasn’t.

Cecchinato, perhaps sensing his time was running short, held for 1-3 and broke Djokovic at 3-5 to get back on serve. In the tie-break, the Italian saw his first match point erased at 6/5 when Djokovic retrieved a drop shot and reacted well with a backhand volley.

The Serbian then had set points at 7/6, 8/7 and 9/8, but Cecchinato’s defence kept Djokovic from forcing a fifth set. And at last, on his fourth match point, Cecchinato hit a backhand winner past a charging Djokovic to prolong the best – and most surprising – tournament of his career.

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Carlos Moya, coach of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, is breaking down the Spaniard’s performances at Roland Garros for ATPWorldTour.com. Nadal is pursuing his 11th trophy on the Parisian terre battue.

On Monday, the defending champion defeated Germany’s Maximilian Marterer, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) to advance to the quarter-finals, where he’ll face 11th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the last four. Moya lists five key takeaways from Nadal’s win over Marterer.

Caught Flat-footed …
There was no excuse for Rafa to go down 0-2 at the beginning of the match. We were kind of rushed because the previous match on Court Philippe-Chatrier ended a little earlier than expected. Rafa was grabbing something to eat when we got the message [that it was time to get ready]. Still, it’s not an excuse, because these things happen and you have to be ready for the unexpected.

Caught Off Guard?
Marterer was on a hot streak going into this match and we knew it was going to be a tough outing. He’s a lefty, he’s aggressive and he poses problems to anyone he faces. Honestly, we didn’t know what to expect and that element of surprise kept us in the dark as to what we were up against.

A Dip In Intensity
When Rafa was in the zone, he was in control. When he lost focus, his game suffered. That was apparent in the third set, when Marterer pushed him into a tie-break. What matters, though, is that he came through and managed to move on in three sets.

Nadal Shined For A Stretch
When Rafa is firing on all cylinders, he’s at his best. From that point when he was down 0-2 in the first set through to the end of the second set, he was at his finest. Rafa was attacking the net, he was aggressive … his game was complete. That’s the best I’ve seen of Rafa so far.

And Now, The Diego Schwartzman Showdown
Diego is super-quick around the court and he’s extremely talented. Even though he lost, he showed his toughness against Rafa at the Australian Open and at the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this year. Rafa will have to be on top of his game because there’s no room for error at this stage. But I know Rafa, and I’m sure he’ll be bringing his best against Diego.

Alexander Zverev will go for personal – and possibly Grand Slam – history when he meets Dominic Thiem in the Roland Garros quarter-finals on Tuesday. Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, a man very familiar with this stage in Paris, will try to stop first-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Marco Cecchinato of Italy. ATPWorldTour.com previews Tuesday’s Roland Garros quarter-finals.

[2] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs. [7] Dominic Thiem (AUT)
Thiem leads FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-2

The last time they met, a maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title was on the line for Dominic Thiem. But it was Alexander Zverev, loser of all three of their prior clay-court matches, who came through to win his third Masters 1000 title, and second on clay, at the Mutua Madrid Open last month.

Thiem, however, will go for a bit of revenge in Paris as the Austrian looks to reach his third consecutive Roland Garros semi-final. He’s had good luck avenging prior losses so far this fortnight.

In the second round, Thiem beat #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, whom he had lost to at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell in April; and in the fourth round, the 24-year-old right-hander knocked out Japan’s Kei Nishikori, whom he had never taken a set off in their prior two contests.

“I really like best of five, doesn’t matter against who. If it’s against Sascha or anybody else,” said Thiem, whose 33 victories this season are second to only Zverev’s 34.

No one in the draw has become as familiar with five-setters as Zverev has the past 10 days. He became just the eighth player in the Open Era (April 1968) to win three consecutive five-setters in Paris, and the first since Tommy Robredo in 2013. Advance in five against Thiem, and the 21-year-old German will become the first player ever to win four consecutive five-setters at a Grand Slam. He’ll also celebrate making his first Grand Slam semi-final.

“It’s not about learning anymore. It’s about trying to find a way and trying to win. That’s what I have been able to do in the last few matches, and I’m very happy about that. I’m very happy about being in the quarter-finals here with going the hard way, going the long distance every single time and showing myself, showing everybody that I can play for as long as I need to,” Zverev said.

[20] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Marco Cecchinato (ITA)
First FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting

This might be their first tour-level meeting, but Marco Cecchinato, who’s from Italy, and Novak Djokovic, who lives in nearby Monte-Carlo, have known each other for years and have practised together often, Djokovic said, as recently as before the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April.

Few, however, including Djokovic, would have predicted they’d be meeting in the quarter-finals. Before Roland Garros, Cecchinato had been 0-4 in Grand Slam matches: 2015 US Open (l. Mardy Fish); 2016 Australian Open (l. Nicolas Mahut); 2016 Roland Garros (l. Nick Kyrgios); and 2017 Wimbledon (l. Nishikori). Cecchinato fell in the final round of Roland Garros qualifying last year.

Read More: Cecchinato: ‘This Is The Best Moment Of My Life’

Before his maiden ATP World Tour title at the Gazprom Hungarian Open in April, Cecchinato had been 5-29 in all tour-level matches. Yet the 25-year-old Italian, No. 72 in the ATP Rankings, has flipped the switch. He became the lowest-ranked man to reach the quarter-finals in 10 years (No. 80 Ernests Gulbis in 2008).

Cecchinato, who beat eighth seed David Goffin in the fourth round, will go for the biggest win of his career against the 2016 champion Djokovic. The Serbian has reached his second quarter-final of 2018, after making the Rome semi-finals last month.

Beat Cecchinato and Djokovic will reach his 32^nd Grand Slam semi-final – and ninth Roland Garros semi-final – and surge to second place on the all-time Open Era list.

Most Grand Slam semifinal appearances (Open Era)