WHAT.A.DAY.OF.TENNIS! The male semi-finals were just unbelievable to watch. Firstly I want to congratulate Krejcikova for making it into the ladies doubles final. Could she win both the singles and doubles? Swiatek and Mattek-Sands is who awaits her in the ladies doubles final. Now onto the mens semi-finals. Where to begin? The first semi-final was between Zverev and Tsitsipas. A big occasion for both as they try and topple the big 3. Tsitsipas won the first set 6-3 after which Zverev hit back and lead 3-0 in the second. Tsitsipas then went on to win 7 games on the trot. Some might have thought 2 sets to love up that Tsitsipas had it in the bag. Zverev thought otherwise as he found his game and won the next 2 sets 6-4. Tsitsipas then found himself in a desperate situation having lost 2 sets in a row and was 0-40 in the first game of the fifth set. Somehow he managed to fend off the break points and held in that game. He went on to break first and never looked back. He won the fifth set 6-3. He became the first Greek, male or female, to make it to a grand slam final. Could he be the French Open champion?

The next match was the match to watch – Djokovic vs Nadal. The best player in the world vs the best player ever seen at Roland Garros. Their last 2 meetings in a grand slam semi-final both went the distance with Nadal winning 1 and Djokovic winning 1. The match that pursued was one of the best matches of tennis that I have watched in a long time. We are so privileged to be able to watch these 2 players at the top of their game. Nadal raced to a 5-0 lead in the first and it looked the match was going to be a similar one to last years French Open final. Djokovic found a bit of rhythm and managed to get three games back and almost managed to make it 5-4 but Nadal managed to hold and he led 1 set to love. Djokovic though had more hope going into the second set now that he had held twice and broken once in the first set. He went on to take the second set 6-3 and we were in for a cracker. The third set lasted 93 minutes and was probably the set of the decade, Nadal went down a break but we knew the set wasn’t over because neither player was holding serve comfortably. Djokovic was serving for the set at 5-4 and was 30-0 up in that game but you can never write Nadal out at Roland Garros. Nadal winning the next 4 points and the set was level once again at 5-5. Nadal was pumped and was nailing his forehand again as he held and went up 6-5. He continued on his way and was 30-40 up – set point to Nadal. Cool as you like, Djokovic hits a drop shot to save the set point and he went on to win the game and take the set into a tiebreak. Nadal started the tiebreak poorly but it was still 3-3 changing ends. At 4-4 a great point pursued – Nadal though setting up a finishing volley which he missed to the crowds shock. Djokovic needed no second invitation as he served an ace and played a solid point to win the crucial third set 7-6(4). It wasn’t over there though. Nadal broke and lead 2-0 in the fourth. Sadly he let Djokovic back in and Djokovic won the last 6 games in a row. This meant he did the seemingly impossible. He beat Nadal at Roland Garros. This being only Nadal’s third loss at the tournament. Could Novak win the whole thing?

Onto the fantasy tournament. Nadal and Zverev were the 2 picks that lost today. This meant that that 12 teams were eliminated on Day 13 of the French Open. The teams are all in red if you wondering who was eliminated. Going into the finals we have: ‘Oh my Hat’ leading by 4 points over ‘Lorna Forbes’. Behind them ‘Ronan the Man’ is 18 points behind in third. ‘Romain Soula’ just 1 point behind Ronan in 4th. ‘Ian’s Alternates’ and ‘Frogs Legs Yum Yum’ still have an outside chance of a prize position. It really is too close to call. Here is the leaderboard heading into the finals.

Results on Day 13:

• Tsitsipas(5) vs Zverev(6) – 6-3; 6-3; 4-6; 4-6; 6-3
• Djokovic(1) vs Nadal(3) – 3-6; 6-3; 7-6(4); 6-2

The Ladies Final:

• Krejcikova vs Pavlyuchenkova (15:00)

The Mens Doubles Final:

• Golubev and Bublik vs Mahut and Herbert (16:15)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.