Top Three Men to Compete for 2012 French Open Title
The last time Novak Djokovic lost at a Grand Slam tournament was a year ago at the French Open semifinals. It was there that Roger Federer ended Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak to advance to the finals. In the 2010 French Open semifinals, Federer won in the fourth set with his 18th ace of the match. The match was so long, that it would have carried into the next day if a fifth set was necessary.
Djokovic was victorious against Federer, just three months later, when they met at the semifinals of the U.S. Open. The match was just as close as their meeting at the French, but when Djokovic fought off a match point, the crowd started to take his side. He then won the next four games to beat Federer and advance to the finals of the U.S. Open. Both Djokovic and Federer did not have easy wins at the quarterfinals to face each other on Friday in the French Open semis. They were both down two sets, but managed to come back with wins.
Djokovic saved four match points against the fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France to win 6-1, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-1.
"As a tennis player, this is what you live for," said Djokovic. "This is what you practice for all these years, to be part of an incredible performance, incredible match encounter here in Roland Garros with the home players. I’m really glad that I could win today."
If Djokovic is to win the French Open, he will join Don Budge in 1938, and Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969 as winners of four consecutive major titles. Many are quick to say that his win would not be considered a true Grand Slam since it is spread out between two seasons. Budge and Laver won their four major titles in one calendar year.
Federer also fought back in his quarterfinals match against the ninth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina. He was down two sets to love, but came back to win in five sets, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-0, 6-3. Winning the match equaled Federer with Jimmy Connors in the most major semi-final appearances at 31.
Rafael Nadal is also looking break records with his semifinal match against number sixth-ranked David Ferrer on Friday. If Nadal wins the championship at Roland Garros, this will be his record seventh French Open crown. The last person to win seven French Open’s was Bjorn Borg. Nadal currently has a record of 50-1 on the clay courts of Roland Garros, with his only blemish a fourth round loss to Sweden’s Robin Soderling in 2009.
"We have played each other a lot of times," said Nadal of his opponent and fellow countryman Ferrer. "His game bothers everybody because he’s one of the best players in the world on every surface – on clay especially. He’s a complete player. It’s very difficult to play against him, because his movement is probably the best in the world and he’s able to hit the ball very early a lot of the time."
