Novak Djokovic turns into oldest French Open semi-finalist in practically six many years after beating Alexander Zverev

Novak Djokovic saved his quest for a record-breaking twenty fifth Grand Slam triumph alive after recovering from a set down in his French Open quarter-final assembly with Alexander Zverev, defeating the German 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.

The victory over the the world No 3 within the recreation that lasted three hours and 17 minutes helped the 38-year-old turn out to be the oldest semi-finalist on the French Open in 57 years and the second-oldest within the Open Period.

American tennis participant Ricardo ‘Pancho’ González was barely older at 40 years previous when he had defeated Australia’s Roy Emerson 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the Roland Garros semi-finals. He would go on to lose to the legendary Rod Laver the very subsequent recreation to bow out within the semi-finals.

POV: You’re sitting court-side as Novak Djokovic turns into the oldest man to succeed in a #RolandGarros semi-final since 1968! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/vMletu6je4

— TNT Sports activities (@tntsports) June 5, 2025

Djokovic registers a hundred and first victory at Roland Garros

Wednesday’s victory over Zverev, which setup a semi-final conflict with world No 1 Jannik Sinner, was additionally Djokovic’s a hundred and first victory at Roland Garros, the venue the place he had fulfilled his dream of successful an Olympic gold medal within the Paris Video games final yr.

Former world primary Djokovic is simply two matches away from turning into the primary participant, male or feminine, to win 25 Grand Slam singles trophies.

Earlier on Wednesday Sinner booked his spot within the final 4 with a straight-sets win over Kazakh Alexander Bublik.

“Clearly there was plenty of stress, stress however it’s regular once you play in opposition to Zverev, probably the greatest on the earth, within the final five-six years,” Djokovic stated in a post-match interview.

“My recreation relies on plenty of working. I’m 38 years previous, it isn’t straightforward to maintain working like that however, okay, it really works.”

“A match just like the one this night is the largest purpose why I proceed enjoying and competing at this degree,” he stated.

Djokovic. Is. All over the place. pic.twitter.com/ApytfUU0bU

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 4, 2025

Zverev, final yr’s finalist who remains to be looking for a maiden Grand Slam title, began out strongly and broke Djokovic within the very first recreation.

Trying to hitch the Serb, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as the one males within the Open Period to succeed in French Open semi-finals in 5 consecutive years, the German held on to that benefit to earn the primary set.

Figuring out he couldn’t match his 28-year-old opponent for health, Djokovic tried to maintain the rallies as brief as attainable, enjoying increasingly more drop pictures – 35 in complete – to pressure the tall Zverev to the web.

Djokovic broke his opponent at 2-1 within the second set and was rapidly 4-1 up earlier than Zverev had any time to react. He secured the second set with one more drop shot.

The veteran then broke Zverev twice extra to bag the third set along with his opponent working out of steam, missing accuracy and having no clear plan B.

One other break on the very begin of the fourth set put Djokovic 2-0 up and firmly on the successful observe earlier than he wrapped it up on his fifth match level to succeed in a record-extending 51st Grand Slam semi-final.

With Reuters inputs