Rain rescues faltering Djokovic at Roland Garros
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic serves the ball to Austria’s Dominic Thiem during their men’s singles semi-final match on day fourteen of The Roland Garros 2019 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on June 8, 2019. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)
Rain came to the rescue of Novak Djokovic on Saturday as the world number one was staring at defeat against Dominic Thiem in the Roland Garros semi-finals.
Djokovic, bidding to become just the second man in history to hold all Grand Slam titles at the same time twice, was trailing 1-4 in the final set and was 40-40 when play was halted.
Thiem led 6-2, 3-6, 3-1 overnight when play was suspended due to rain and the threat of high winds, before claiming the third set on Saturday 7-5.
Djokovic levelled the match by taking the fourth set 7-5.
Organisers said the semi-final would not resume until 1300 GMT (15:00) at the earliest, which was the original scheduled time for the women’s final between Ashleigh Barty and Marketa Vondrousova.
The winner will face 11-time winner and defending champion Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s final.
Nadal made his 12th final in Paris on Friday with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over old rival Roger Federer.
It was Federer’s worst loss at the Slams in 11 years.
Nadal, 33, will be the fresher of whoever he faces on Sunday.
He completed his quarter-final on Tuesday and semi-final on Friday
Djokovic and Thiem have already played for three days in succession.
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