Djokovic reaches eighth French Open semi-final

The world No. 1 defeated Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, claiming a place in an eighth Roland Garros semi-final and sixth in succession.

The victor will play either second-seed Andy Murray or third seed Stan Wawrinka, who also play on Friday.

Djokovic beat Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 to guarantee himself a $326,722 payout, which takes him to $100,000,126 during his career.

The Austrian opened up a 3-0 lead in the third set courtesy of his stunning single-handed backhand.

“I had to play my best tennis on some points”, Djokovic said.

A permanent scowl seems embedded on the face of the 60th-ranked Putintseva, a former junior No. 2 who spent significant time at the academy run by Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou. “For me, (it) would be much more hard”, Kuerten said.

“We were, like, discussing, ‘OK, are we going to play or are we not going to play?’ I was like, ‘OK, I want to go on court”.

Following Monday’s complete washout, Berdych and Djokovic were among several competitors ordered to play their fourth-round matches through drizzle on Tuesday as organizers tried to clear a huge backlog.

Despite his great form, it appears a tall order for Thiem to upset world No.1 Djokovic. He lost the set on his serve when he buried a forehand into the net.

Today he gets another opportunity to make a first British breakthrough since Bunny Austin reached the final 79 years ago.

Had it hit the nearby line judge, he would have been disqualified.

“I am extremely proud”.

So here is how the semi-finals look.

The Czech, sporting adidas’ zebra garb, might have found a pride of lions more forgiving than the world number one as he reeled off seven straight games. “So I don’t expect her to play that level tomorrow”. That loss to Wawrinka was Djokovic’s most recent at a major.

Looking re-energised after a rest day that the pair on the other side of the draw missed out on, both Murray and Wawrinka started brightly, the Scot pacing in monochrome while the Swiss lit up a boring Philippe Chatrier showcourt in fluorescent yellow. In a lengthy game, Goffin saved both to take it to deuce.

The Swiss player staved off two break points in the third game of the third set and he gained some energy from a centre-court crowd largely pulling for him.

Over on Court Philippe Chatrier, Murray had more trouble against Wawrinka, but just barely.

In the women’s tournament, Serena Williams survived a major scare to move to within two wins of tying Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 grand slam singles titles.

Murray won’t under-estimate Wawrinka who stunned Djokovic in last year’s final.

The 25-year-old held his opening service game and broke at the second attempt for a 0-2 lead.

Djokovic has not been at his best this tournament but from 3-3 in the first set against Berdych he found top gear.

When Williams wound up holding there with a drop volley victor, she looked up to the gray sky with her palms aloft, as if to say, “Whew!”

When Williams played Bertens in the first round at the U.S. Open past year, the latter led by a break, eventually succumbing 7-6 (7-5) 6-3. I played him in London (at the O2) past year.

“The rallies were very long and very tough”.

She was also well ahead in the second set before Stosur finally made her sweat.

“I’m sure that it’s going to be a final with a lot of emotions and a lot of exchanges from the baseline, because we have similar styles of game”, Djokovic said.