The titled Serbian Novak Djokovic defeated the leader of the world ranking Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 6:3, 5:7, 6:1, 6:1 and advanced to the final of the French Open tennis tournament in Paris. This is his 34th Grand Slam final and his seventh in Paris.
The Serbian’s rival in the final will be the winner of the evening match, in which the Norwegian Casper Ruud, seeded with the “fourth”, will face the German Alexander Zverev (no. 22).
Djokovic, 36, has won the French Open twice so far – in 2016 and 2021. In total, he has 22 Grand Slam singles titles to his credit, as does Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard, who triumphed in Paris for the 14th time last year, is unable to defend his title due to injury.
So Djokovic will have a chance to take the lead on the all-time list on Sunday.
Friday’s semi-final with 20-year-old Alcaraz, considered to be Nadal’s successor, promised to be very interesting. The match was billed as a “premature final” and a “clash of generations”.
However, there were emotions only in the first two sets, then the advantage of Djokovic was no longer subject to discussion.
In the third set, with the score 1: 1, the Spaniard began to have problems with his right leg. He was probably suffering from cramps or an injury.
After the third set, Alcaraz went to the locker room, the break lasted quite a long time, but he returned to the court to finish the duel. (PAP)
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