The late start time (after 9pm in Paris) seemed somewhat surprising for Novak Djokovic.
The Serb immediately sent off his service game and soon had to allow a second break. This scenario will be repeated several times in this quarter-final.
In the first set, Rafael Nadal didn’t let that double slice of Viagra come off his bread (2-6), in the second set Djokovic shook his sleeve.
He ran into a 0-3 deficit, but the Serbian fighter overpowered himself and the raging fire yielded 6-4 in his favour.
However, Djokovic’s dash was slowed again by Nadal, who was back in the driver’s seat with a new double fracture. 2-6 in the third group after about 3 hours.
Maintaining momentum turned out to be a difficult task. In set 4, Djokovic took the reins again with a smooth serve (5-2), and the 13-time winner on the other side of the net couldn’t help but hold on.
At first anyway, because Nadal ditched two fixed points and sold his skin for a hefty price.
The law was introduced in a tiebreak: disciplined Nadal forced Djokovic into the wrong and smiled after a scene that lasted more than 4 hours.
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