- By Namrata Vijay
- Thu, 05 Jun 2025 08:15 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
French Open 2025: The 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic has qualified for the semifinal of the ongoing Grand Slam by putting up a dominant performance. He defeated Alexander Zverev, who was the runners-up last year by 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday.
It took three hours and 17 minutes for Djokovic to beat Zverev and inched closer to qualifying for a record 51st Grand Slam semifinal.
Djokovic had also become the oldest player after 57 years to have qualified for the French Open semifinals, a milestone achieved by Richard Gonzales in 1968 when he was 40 years old. Djokovic, who had made four consecutive first-round exits, was seen struggling but then bounced back brilliantly, keeping his hopes alive of winning his 25th major title after the US Open he won in 2023.
Zverev had a flying start as he broke Djokovic early and was leading by 2-0 and also won the first set. But during the second set, Djokovic made a brilliant comeback and didn't let Zverev break any other set for the remainder of the match.
During the post-match presentation, Djokovic reckoned that he mixed things up and then executed his drop shots and kept Zverev clueless.
“Especially during the last game, my tactic was just to play drop shots. So I played three or four in a row Maybe you can’t see it on TV, but there is a lot of wind from one side, so it gives the sensation that you must hit twice as hard. It was important to vary the game,” Djokovic told broadcasters during the post-match presentation.
Zverev lost the match due to inconsistent performances as he had committed 42 unforced errors even though he had 38 points which was four less than Djokovic's record.
Novak Djokovic will lock horns with Jannik Sinner during the semifinal, who had defeated Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik by 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 during the quarterfinals.
