ROME – It was the kind of mentality of fighting, wearing down the opponent and taking shots that led Novak Djokovic to a calendar-year Grand Slam match in 2021.
A show that was lost for much of this year when Djokovic did not play because he was not vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Top-ranked Djokovic brought the Foro Italico crowd to its feet with several memorable points in a 7-5, 7-6 (1) win over Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the Italian Open semifinals on Friday.
To wrap up a long rally, Djokovic produced a delicate backhand topspin winner over Auger-Aliassime leaping to break serve and lead 4-2 in the second set.
Djokovic celebrated winning the lob by raising both arms above his head and then urged the crowd gathered on the Campo Centrale to cheer louder with hand gestures.
“It was high-level tennis,” Djokovic said. “He asked me to raise the level and I had to play consistently well.”
While still searching for his first title of the year, Djokovic secured victory by keeping the No. 1 ranking for another week and holding the top seed at the French Open.
Second-ranked Daniil Medvedev will no longer be able to overtake Djokovic when the rankings are updated on Monday.
Roland Garros starts in nine days, and Djokovic is preparing for his first Grand Slam tournament of the year after being deported from Australia ahead of the Australian Open.
Playing ninth-ranked Auger-Aliassime for the first time, Djokovic took some time before starting to read the Canadian competitor’s big serve. He then stepped up his game and landed an off-balance forehand crosscourt winner to break and take the first set.
Auger-Aliassime showed some flair early on when he managed a backhand half-volley winner to conclude a long rally in the second game.
In the end, though, it was Djokovic, playing his 16th straight quarterfinal at the clay-court tournament, who won all the big points. Like when he executed two spikes and responded with two defensive lobs before stepping in to slam a backhand crosscourt in the tiebreaker.
Djokovic’s semifinal opponent will be Casper Ruud, who defeated Denis Shapovalov 7-6(7), 7-5.
Shapovalov eliminated 10-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal, who was dealing with a chronic left foot injury, on Thursday.
Also, fifth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas served 10 aces to defeat Jannik Sinner 7-6(5), 6-2 to reach his third straight Masters semi-final on clay.
Tsitsipas will meet Alexander Zverev in his third semifinal in the last month after the 2017 champion defeated Cristian Garin 7-5, 6-2.
Tsitsipas kept his cool as almost the entire crowd of 10,500 fans rooted for Sinner, the 13th-ranked Italian player who is considered a future Grand Slam contender. But Sinner, 20, fell to 0-12 in his career against top-five ranked opponents.
Sinner was treated by a fitness trainer after spraining his left hip during the final point of the first set. His body is still developing physically.
“That’s where the gap is,” Sinner said. “In terms of tennis, I’m there. Physically, I need to improve.”
Associated Press contributed to this story.
Reference-www.espn.com