Djokovic moves past Tsitsipas to set up Roland Garros final clash with Nadal

Novak Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas with 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1 in a little over two hours to set up a Roland Garros final against Rafael Nadal.

Novak Djokovic did it once again and this time against a Greek who played a spectacular tournament so far.

The first set started with Stefanos having 3 breakpoints and for a moment it looked like the Greek would prove difficult for Djokovic to overcome. He saved all three of them winning the game and breaking Stefanos immediately after. It was a sequence which set the tone early for the match and that sequence would repeat throughout the match. The 3-0 lead by Djokovic became a 6-3 1st set victory with the Serbian showing all of his might. Both players had similar stats in terms of winners and errors but Djokovic had more of both.

The 2nd set started off similar to the first one. Once again, Novak had to save break points on his own serving game and once he did the Greek completely collapsed. Not long after he gave up his serve to give Novak the 4-2 lead, he lost it once more to give him the 6-2 2nd set victory. Djokovic played a good set as he did in the previous one but Tsitsipas completely collapsed in this one playing worse and serving worse. He didn't look like the player who cruised to the semifinal with ease.

The 3rd set followed the same basic principle. Stefanos won the opening game and after that had a breakpoint but Djokovic saved it once again. It was the 8th break point he faced and the 8th he saved. From that point on both player's were winning service games without any fuss. Djokovic played a reserved brand of tennis not forcing much waiting for his chance. That chance came late in the set when Djokovic broke Stefanos to take a 5-4 lead after a spectacular rally which saw the Djokovic hit some unbelievable shots.

The Greek came back to break Novak to make it 5-5 and stringed together another two games to win the set 7-5 after a ferocious battle where he even faced matchpoints. Tsitsipas continued in the similar style also in the fourth set and showed a stunning display on breakpoints. He denied 10 out of 11 Djokovic’s opportunities, and he also used both of the breakpoints he had to win the fourth set 6-4.

However, in the fifth set, it was Djokovic who started to dominate the match again. The Serbian broke his opponent to get a quick 3-1 lead in the decisive set. The world number 1 added two more breaks to win the fifth set comfortably 6-1 and set up the final match against Rafael Nadal.