Italian Marco Cecchinato established himself as the giant-killer of French Open 2018, beating former world no. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-3 7-6(7-4) 1-6 7-6(13-11) in the quartefinals at the Roland Garros.
Cecchinato, ranked no. 72 in the world, has now knocked out three top 10 players to reach the last four—the other two being Pablo Carreno Busta and David Goffin.
Having returned from a match-fixing ban, Cecchinato couldn't have asked for more. “Maybe I’m sleeping. It’s amazing. It’s unbelievable for me. For me, to beat Djokovic in a quarterfinal at Roland Garros it’s unbelievable. It’s amazing,” he said after the win.
Having lost the first two sets, Djokovic showed glimpses of his old imperious self, running away with the third set. The fourth set went down to the wire, with Djokovic fighting off three match points but made unforced errors when it mattered the most.
Cecchinato will now take on Dominic Thiem, who beat Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal earlier, in the semifinal.
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Austrian tennis ace Thiem secured his berth in the French Open semifinals for the third straight year after eliminating no. 2 seed Zverev in straight sets.
Thiem also took revenge on his German opponent following his loss in last month's ATP Madrid Masters final. He moved through Tuesday's quarterfinals 6-4, 6-2, 6-1, reports Xinhua news agency.
Both players held their serves in the opening six games, before Thiem finished the first break in the seventh to go ahead 4-3. The Austrian sealed his victory in the first set with an ace.
Zverev, who had already recorded his best Grand Slam performance after reaching the quarterfinals, seemingly suffered a left hamstring injury when returning the ball. The German called for a medical timeout when trailing 1-4 after the fifth game.
Troubled by the injury, Zverev failed to perform at his best and quickly conceded the second set.
Thiem continued his momentum to win four straight games into the third set, and was never within reach later. Thiem wrapped up the win following his sixth break throughout the match.
Thiem won 78 per cent on his first serves, and 68 per cent on second serves, both over 20 per cent higher than that of Zverev. The German also suffered 42 unforced errors, compared to Thiem's 20.
Equalling his best Grand Slam performance, Thiem will next take on the Italian underdog Cecchinato.
Meanwhile, Madison Keys of the US secured her place in the French Open semifinals with a two-set win over Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Beating Putintseva 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in an hour and 24 minutes, Keys qualified for the last-four for the first time in her career, reports Efe.
Keys fired 30 winners and three aces compared to her rival's 12 and none, respectively.
In the upcoming round, the No. 13 seed is set to take on the winner of the match between US Sloane Stephens and Russia's Daria Kasatkina.