French Open 2020: Novak Djokovic beats Pablo Carreno Busta despite physical problems
Novak Djokovic reached the semi-finals of the French Open despite physical problems. The world number one beat Pablo Carreno Busta 4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 3 and 6: 4.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Oct 07, 2020, 09:53 pm
Much had been written in advance about the match between Novak Djokovic and Pablo Carreno Busta - and for good reason: The Serbian world number one hit a line judge with a ball in the last sixteen at this year's US Open and was then disqualified.
At the French Open, however, the 33-year-old had presented himself in dazzling form and made no sentence on the way to the quarter-finals. The start against Carreno Busta, however, went anything but as desired, the Serb, visibly bruised on the neck and left arm, was quickly confronted with a 2: 4 deficit and had to make the first round despite the intermediate equalization to 4: 4 with 4: 6 submit.
Djokovic is recovering quickly
After treatments by the physiotherapist at the beginning of the second set, Djokovic seemed to feel more comfortable on the Philippe-Chatrier court: the 17-time Grand Slam winner took the 3-1 serve from his opponent and fixed the with another break 6: 2 set win.
The industry leader stayed on the trigger at the beginning of the third round and quickly took a 3-0 lead. However, Carreno Busta fought his way back and found a break opportunity at the score of 3: 3 - Djokovic fended this off, secured the game and the following two games. So section three went 6: 3 to the Serbs.
Djokovic in the semifinals against Tsitsipas
In the fourth set Carreno Busta had to survive some pressure early on, but when the score was 3: 3, the Iberian's resistance was initially broken: Djokovic took the break, then couldn't take it despite three rebreak chances and fixed after 3 : 10 hours to get into the semi-finals of the French Open.
"He's a very good player. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes. I started this match badly and moved badly. But then I found my rhythm," said Djokovic in an on-court interview. After the 4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 3 and 6: 4 success, the world number one will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals on Friday. The Greek defeated Andrey Rublev clearly in three sets .
rg2020