World No 1 Novak Djokovic inflicted just the third defeat of Rafael Nadal's French Open dominance to reach his sixth final at Roland Garros on a night of sporting drama.
Djokovic, who also defeated Nadal in the quarter-finals in 2015, sealed a remarkable 3-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 victory against the 13-time champion in front of a football-style atmosphere on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Nadal had won all 13 of his previous semi-finals but, in a 58th match between the pair that was on a par with almost any that came before, Djokovic found the answers to the greatest challenge in sport to win an extraordinary match.
In the final on Sunday, Djokovic will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas - winner of a five-set contest with Alexander Zverev earlier on Friday - when he can climb to within one title of the Spaniard and Roger Federer at the top of the all-time men's Grand Slam standings and also become the first of the trio to win each tournament at least twice.
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Nadal was given a long ovation as he made his exit from the court, leaving Djokovic to try to sum up what had just happened.
"The first thing I want to say is it was my privilege also to be on the court with Rafa in this incredible match," he said. "It is surely the best match I have played here in Paris. It's also the match with the best atmosphere, ambience and energy."
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Nadal won the first five games of the match as he looked on course to repeat his drubbing of the Serb last October for the loss of seven games.
But Djokovic seized the momentum, winning the second set and then edging a quite unbelievable 93-minute third set in arguably one of the greatest tie-breaks of all time, having saved a set point.
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The crowd of around 5,000 reached a crescendo towards the end of the third set as the Paris Covid-19 curfew loomed.
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The biggest cheer of the night came with the announcement that the fans, who had been expected to be ejected at 11pm, were in fact being allowed to stay, meaning the magnificent contest could continue to be graced by a live audience.
However, there was no reprieve for the 35-year-old Nadal, who had won 105 of his previous 107 matches on the Parisian clay, as his seemingly inexhaustible resolve was finally broken.
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Djokovic was looking fresh despite nearly four hours of slugging it out with the world's greatest ever clay-courter as he ruthlessly closed in on victory.
After breaking for a 4-2 lead the end came quickly as he inflicted the first defeat on the great Spaniard at Roland Garros in six years.
Djokovic later spoke about Nadal's dominance on the dirt, saying: "The amount of wins that he has made on this court is incredible. Each time you step on the court with him, you know that you have to kind of climb Mount Everest to win against this guy here."
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Djokovic vs Nadal: Match Stats
| Djokovic |
Match Stats |
Nadal |
| 6 |
Aces |
6 |
| 3 |
Double Faults |
8 |
| 65% |
1st serve win percentage |
59% |
| 50% |
2nd serve win percentage |
40% |
| 8/22 |
Break points won |
6/16 |
| 50 |
Total winners |
48 |
| 37 |
Unforced errors |
55 |
| 142 |
Total points won |
124 |
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Nadal was left to rue a lack of precision at important moments. He said: "Probably it was not my best day out there. Even if I fought, I put a lot of effort, the position on the shots hasn't been that effective tonight. Against a player like him, that takes the ball early, you are not able to take him out of his positions, then it is very difficult.
"Even like this, I had the big chance with the set point, 6-5, second serve. Anything could happen in that moment. Then I make a double fault, easy volley in the tie-break. But it's true that there have been crazy points out there. The fatigue is there, too.
"These kind of mistakes can happen. But, if you want to win, you can't make these mistakes. So that's it. Well done for him. Has been a good fight out there. I tried my best, and today was not my day."
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