THIEM SERVES NOVAK DJOKOVIC A BAGEL IN FRENCH OPEN TENNIS & RAFA NADAL CRUISES THRU PARIS

Written by: Staff on 7th June 2017

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

THIEM SERVES NOVAK DJOKOVIC A BAGEL IN FRENCH OPEN TENNIS & RAFA NADAL CRUISES THRU PARIS

epa06010510 Dominic Thiem of Austria in action against Horacio Zeballos of Argentina during their men?s singles 4th round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 04 June 2017. EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON |

By Ricky Dimon

Novak Djokovic will not be a part of the French Open semifinals. Dominic Thiem will.

That is no real surprise based on their respective overall bodies of work throughout this 2017 campaign, but how it happened is particularly notable. Less than two weeks ago, Djokovic destroyed Thiem 6-1, 6-0 in the Rome semifinals. Roles, however, were completely reversed this time around. Another straight-set beatdown was issued, and this time it was Thiem coming out on the right end of a 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-0 scoreline.

The 23-year-old Austrian is through to the Roland Garros semis for the second straight season after advancing in two hours and 15 minutes.

“It’s great for me to be in the semifinals again, to defend that,” said Thiem, who had previously been 0-5 lifetime against Djokovic. “The first set I could easily [have lost], and I think it was the key for [my] first victory against him–to win this close first set and then have a good start to the second set, as well.”

The world No. 7 raced to a 3-0 lead in the second and also broke right away in the third, converting his third break point for a 1-0 advantage. From there it was all over for Djokovic, who went away with a whimper by winning a mere total of four points the entire rest of the match.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Dominic Thiem of Austria during their men’s singles quarter final match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 07 June 2017. EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

“It’s hard to comment (on) the third set,” the defending champion admitted. “Obviously nothing was going my way and everything his way; just (a) pretty bad set. All in all, it was decided I think in the first set…. I lost that crucial break in the beginning of the second (set) and he started serving better, (and) backing it up with the first shot. He deserved to win. He was definitely the better player on the court today.”

Rafael Nadal was the better player in his quarterfinal contest against fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta before it ended long before the anticipated finish line. Coming off the biggest win of his career over Milos Raonic in the fourth round, Carreno Busta retired due to an abdominal issue while trailing Nadal 6-2, 2-0.

It lasted all of 51 minutes.

“I felt (it) when I served [at] 5-2; I felt pain when I serving,” the No. 20 seed explained. “And I tried to continue, but I preferred to stop because I felt the pain all the time.”

“Obviously (it) was not the perfect way (to advance) and especially against a good friend,” Nadal commented. “Sorry for him. He was playing great. He had a great event. Is tough when these kind of things happens, but he had a great event.”

The nine-time champion’s event will continue against Thiem on Friday. The other semifinal will featured world No. 1 Andy Murray and 2015 French Open winner Stan Wawrinka.