PARIS - Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer survived five-set struggles at the French Open on Tuesday to set up a mouth-watering semi-final where the Swiss legend will attempt to shatter the world number one’s Grand Slam dream.
Top seed Djokovic saved four match points against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before pulling off a nail-biting 6-1, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 quarter-final win. Third seed Federer reached a record-equalling 31st Grand Slam semi-final when he survived a brutal barrage from frail Argentine Juan Martin del Potro before prevailing 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-0, 6-3.
Australia’s Samantha Stosur will take on Sara Errani of Italy in the semi-finals after both won through in straight sets. US Open champion Stosur powered past Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-1, while 21st seed Errani saw off Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).
After his triumphs at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open, Serb star Djokovic is bidding to become just the third man to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time and the first in 43 years. His win over Tsonga made it 26 straight match victories in Grand Slams, but seldom has he been run so ragged as he was at times by the powerful Frenchman, who had let slip four match points in the fourth set.
The defeat meant Tsonga’s dream of becoming the first Frenchman to win at Roland Garros since Yannick Noah in 1983 had been cruelly shattered. “He was the better player for most of the match and I was fortunate to come back from four match points down. It was an incredible match,” said Djokovic, who had needed five sets to beat Italy’s Andreas Seppi in the fourth round.
Heartbroken Tsonga said: “I did what I said I would and gave everything. I came close and I would have loved to have won. It’s a shame because I was pretty close, but at the end I had no energy left. Now I will have to close this chapter.”
Federer, the 16-time Grand Slam title winner and 2009 champion in Paris, came back from two sets to love down for the seventh time in his career and will take on Djokovic for the 26th time with a place in Sunday’s final at stake. The result was cruel luck on the 1.98m Del Potro who had looked on course for a straight sets win -after unleashing a brutal wave of power-hitting off both wings which left Federer floundering in the first two sets.
However, his hopes were finally sabotaged by a recurrence of the knee injury which has plagued him in Paris and which left him struggling to move by the end of Tuesday’s match. “I knew Juan Martin’s knee was bothering him and was trying to finish the rallies quickly,” said Federer, who has pulled level with Jimmy Connors’ mark of 31 Grand Slam semi-finals.
“I knew it would be a big fight today. I played well tactically and was strong mentally because there wasn’t a lot in it.” Federer, playing in his 50th straight Grand Slam tournament and 32nd consecutive quarter-final at the majors, took an 11-2 career advantage over the towering Argentine into Tuesday’s clash.
The sixth-seeded Stosur had too much firepower and experience for the lightweight 23-year-old Cibulkova and was only briefly under pressure in the second game of the second set when she stood at 0-40 on her serve. “It’s never easy to come out here, with it windy and playing an opponent who was going for it,” said the 28-year-old from the Gold Coast. “She runs very fast and has quick legs. The last few years have been good for me in Paris. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Both players had previously gone deep into the tournament at the French Open with Stosur reaching the final in 2010, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone of Italy, and Cibulkova the semi-finals the previous year.
Errani’s upset win over hard-hitting Kerber made sure of Italian representation in the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the third year in succession, following the trail blazed by compatriot Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 champion and runner-up last year. A slight figure on tour at just 1.64m, Errani had never got beyond the third round of a major before this year’s Australian Open when she reached the quarter-finals.
But the 25-year-old from Bologna illustrated her dangerwoman status by winning three claycourt titles in Acapulco, Barcelona and Budapest in the run-up to Paris, putting together a 16-match winning streak in the process.
That confidence was translated into her Roland Garros semi-final run which saw her defeat 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic and 2009 winner Svetlana Kuznetsova.