Novak Djokovic out after 3-6, 6-7, 6-1, 6-7 quarter-final defeat to Marco Cecchinato
A frustrated Novak Djokovic during his French Open quarter-final against Marco Cecchinato at the Roland Garros yesterday. Pic/AFP
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Former champions Novak Djokovic crashed out of French Open after suffering 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 7-6 (13/11) quarter-final loss to World No. 72 Marco Cecchinato at the Roland Garros in Paris yesterday.
Cecchinato became the first Italian man in 40 years to reach a Grand Slam semi-final with a breathtaking over the 12-time Grand Slam champion. Cecchinato, who had never won a Grand Slam match in his career before Roland Garros, goes on to face Austrian seventh seed Dominic Thiem for a place in Sunday's final. In an epic fourth set tiebreaker, Djokovic saved three match points but wasted three set points as Cecchinato became the lowest-ranked man in the semi-finals in Paris since 100th-ranked Andrei Medvedev in 1999.
Marco Cecchinato
Roller coaster match
In a roller coaster of a quarter-final, both men were warned for coaching, 2016 champion Djokovic required two medical timeouts and the Italian was docked a point for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Thiem advances
Earlier, Dominic Thiem reached his third successive French Open semi-final with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 demolition of a hobbled and exhausted Alexander Zverev who admitted he was close to quitting the tie. Thiem, the Austrian seventh seed, goes on to face either 2016 champion and 12-time champion Novak Djokovic or Italy's world number 72 Marco Cecchinato for a place in Sunday's final. 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 quarter-final.
His Roland Garros marathon also left him physically drained — he needed his left thigh strapped in the second set. "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 champ Rafael Nadal on clay this year.
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