Novak Djokovic heaps praise on French Open semi-final line-up
Djokovic: "It speaks about the quality of the tournament and the quality of the top four guys that reached the last four."
Friday 7 June 2019 08:11, UK
Novak Djokovic hailed the dominance of the top-four ranked players at the French Open as he joined long-time rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in the semi-finals.
The top four seeds are all through to the last four for the first time at a Grand Slam since the Australian Open in 2012, while it is the first time at a major since the 2012 French Open that Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have all reached this stage.
Djokovic will play last year's runner-up Dominic Thiem, after Nadal and Federer's 39th meeting in Friday's first semi-final at Roland Garros.
"It speaks about the quality of the tournament and the quality of the top four guys that reached the last four," Djokovic said.
"I think it's great to have the top four players competing in the semi-finals at the biggest event because it brings even more rivalry, more importance to those matches and to the tournament in general.
"Dominic is deservedly where he is, one of the top four guys, especially on clay. He's got that tremendous power in his game, especially with his forehand and serve. I think his backhand also has improved a lot in the last couple of years.
"If he continues playing this way, not just on clay, I think we will probably be seeing him more often on different surfaces in the final stages of the tournament.
"It's a different time for us now than it was five years ago, obviously. We're a bit older. But we have still been enjoying some of our best tennis in the biggest events, talking about Federer, Nadal, and myself. That's great to see."
The longer I play or the further I go in my career, the sense of history-making is only getting stronger.
Djokovic says his desire to create further history in tennis is increasing, after he reached the semi-finals in the French capital for the first time since 2016.
The top seed will hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously for the second time in his career if he wins his second title at Roland Garros.
"The presence of history-making is stronger than ever right now in my career," Djokovic added.
"I think the longer I play or the further I go in my career, the sense of history-making is only getting stronger.
"That's one of the greatest motivations I have, obviously. I think there is no better way to make history in the sport than to win slams and play your best in the biggest events."
Djokovic, whose quarter-final victory against Alexander Zverev was his 26th consecutive Grand Slam win, is the only player left in the draw yet to lose a set.
Thiem admits it will take a special performance to inflict Djokovic's first defeat in a Grand Slam since the Serb was surprisingly knocked out by Marco Cecchinato in the French Open quarter-finals last year.
"I'm in the semi-finals with maybe the three best players of all time, so everybody can see how tough the way it is for me," Thiem said after his straight-sets defeat of Karen Khachanov.
"I'm fourth time now in the semi-finals. And I was playing Djokovic, Nadal, (Marco) Cecchinato and Djokovic which is really tough. It's incredibly difficult to win a Grand Slam.
"Because especially for us players who didn't have one yet, because if everything goes quite normal, we have to beat two players with 15 or more Grand Slams each."
Thiem did beat Djokovic when the pair last met at Roland Garros, in straight sets in the 2017 quarter-final, but the 25-year-old knows he will face a completely different opponent this time around.
"I hope it's going to be positive in the end, but the challenge is huge," Thiem said.
"Novak is in very good shape again, probably playing the best tennis of his life."
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