World No. 72 Marco Cecchinato stunned Novak Djokovic in a French Open classic on Tuesday to set up a semifinal clash against Dominic Thiem, with Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys to meet in the women’s last four.
Cecchinato is the first Italian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since 1978 after his thrilling 6-3, 7-6(4), 1-6, 7-6(11) victory over the 12-time Major champion.
The 25-year-old, who had never won a Grand Slam match in his career before Roland Garros, goes on to face Austrian seventh seed Thiem for a place in Sunday’s final.
In an epic fourth-set tie-break, Djokovic saved three match points but wasted three set points as Cecchinato became the lowest-ranked man to make the last four in Paris since 100th-ranked Andrei Medvedev in 1999.
Drama galore
In a roller-coaster of a quarterfinal, both men were warned for coaching, 2016 champion Djokovic required two medical timeouts while the Italian was docked a point for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Djokovic had also squandered three set points in the second set and failed to serve out the fourth in the ninth game after being 5-2 in front.
In an extraordinary post-match press conference, Djokovic then said he may even skip Wimbledon where he has been champion three times.
“I don’t know if I am going to play on grass,” said the Serb. “I’m just not thinking about tennis at the moment.”
Djokovic, who was playing on a 20th seeding — his lowest in over a decade after indifferent form and struggles with an elbow injury — has now not made the semifinal of a Major since he finished runner-up at the 2016 US Open.
Cecchinato struggled to comprehend his triumph, coming just two years after his career was almost derailed when he became embroiled in match-fixing allegations.
“Maybe I’m sleeping. It’s amazing, it’s unbelievable for me. I’m very happy because it’s unbelievable to beat Novak Djokovic in a quarterfinal at Roland Garros. It’s amazing,” he said.
Thiem reached his third successive French Open semifinal with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 demolition of a hobbled and exhausted Alexander Zverev.
German second seed Zverev simply ran out of gas, paying a heavy price for needing three successive five-set matches to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“He is one of the fittest guys on the tour so it was difficult for him today,” said Thiem, the only man to have defeated 10-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal on clay this year. Zverev, who hit 42 unforced errors, said he will undergo an MRI to discover the seriousness of his injury.
He admitted he was also close to quitting at 1-5 down in the second set. “I definitely thought about it, but I didn’t want to pull out for the first time of my career in a Grand Slam quarterfinal,” said Zverev.
Clinical show
In the women’s section, US Open champion Stephens brushed aside Russian Daria Kasatkina to set up a repeat of last year’s Flushing Meadows final with fellow American and good friend Keys.
The 10th seed produced a clinical performance to down Kasatkina 6-3, 6-1, firing 17 winners.
Earlier in the day Keys, the 13th seed, reached the semifinals for the first time by seeing off Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 7-6(5), 6-4.
“I’m excited to play my good friend in the semifinals, we’ve already played in the US Open final and it’s really good for American tennis,” said Stephens.
The 25-year-old, who was ranked 957 just six weeks before her maiden Grand Slam triumph last year after a series of injury problems, is now into the last four of a Major for the third time.
Bopanna exits in doubles
In men’s doubles, 13th seeded Rohan Bopanna and his French partner Eduardo Roger-Vasselin crashed out following a 7-6(4), 6-2 loss to eighth seeds Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Austria’s Alexander Peya in an hour and 32 minutes.
This is the second time this year that Bopanna and Roger-Vasselin have come up short at a Major. The duo had crashed out in the second round of the Australian Open in January.
