3 days ago
Live Jannik Sinner vs Novak Djokovic: Score and updates from French Open semi-final
Good evening and welcome to coverage of the second men's semi-final at Roland Garros between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
Sinner, the world No 1, is on a 19-match winning streak at the majors dating back to his victory at the US Open last summer. The 23-year-old Italian, who also won the Australian Open at the start of the year before serving a three-month suspension, has looked flawless in Paris.
Last year, the then world No 2 lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. The Spaniard of course went on to win the title and he awaits the winner of this contest after coming through his semi-final earlier against Lorenzo Musetti – the Italian was forced to retire in the fourth set with the score at 4-6, 7-6, 6-0, 2-0.
Getting back to Sinner, the Italian's path to the last four has been seamless. He has not dropped a set in any of his five matches and ended his last outing in statement fashion – bagelling Jack Draper's conqueror Alexander Bublik in the third of the quarter-final.
The three-time grand slam champion also handed out chastening beatings to Richard Gasquet in the Frenchman's final match before retiring in the second round (6-3, 6-0, 6-4), talented Czech Jiri Lehecka in round three (6-0, 6-1, 6-2) and 17th seed Andrey Rublev in round four (6-1, 6-3, 6-4).
As for Djkovic, a three-time winner here, the 38-year-old has looked just as impressive as his Italian opponent. Before his quarter-final victory against Alexander Zverev, Djokovic had won all of his four matches in straights. The Serbian deployed the drop-shot play more than 30 times against Zverev in what turned out to be a tactical masterclass from the 24-time grand slam champion.
After his victory on Wednesday, Djokovic, who was quite rightly pleased with his masterful performance, said: 'Tonight is one of the reasons why I still keep playing.' Scary.
