Novak Djokovic reached the French Open semi-finals after a three-hour duel with Ernests Gulbis.
Gulbis makes third seed work for semi-final place
Novak Djokovic reached the French Open semi-finals after a three-hour duel with Ernests Gulbis.
The Serbian third seed won an entertaining quarter-final match 7-5 7-6 7-5 to set up a meeting with defending champion Rafael Nadal in the last four.
Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, was never at his best and it was a struggle to get past the talented Gulbis.
The Latvian teenager thwarted his opponent in his first attempt to serve out the match, breaking serve at 5-4, but Djokovic converted his first match point with an ace to reach the semis.
Djokovic will now face Nadal in a repeat of last year's semi-final after the Spaniard thrashed compatriot Nicolas Almagro.
Nadal unbeaten
Nadal remains unbeaten at Roland Garros and dropped only three games as he cruised through 6-1 6-1 6-1.
Djokovic will know that he will have to play better if he is to reach his third Grand Slam final, although credit must go to Gulbis for putting up a strong fight.
Both players displayed great touch around the net, where the Latvian teenager excelled to the delight of the Parisian crowd, but it was Djokovic who crucially won the battle from the baseline.
The two men had to handle difficult, blustery conditions on the Philippe Chatrier court, while Gulbis had to fend off a host of break points in the early stages of the match.
Djokovic forced four more break points as Gulbis served to stay in the set at 5-6 down, finally making the last of those tell to break the 19-year-old's stubborn resistance.
Gulbis broke early in the second set, but was pegged back by the third seed in the eighth game before Djokovic stole the set on a tie-break.
Djokovic again went up a break in the third but when he came to serve for the
match at 5-4, Gulbis dredged his reserves of strength to win the game and deny his opponent.
But that was as good as it got for the world number 80, who was perhaps
betrayed by his inexperience in the next game as the errors started to flow from his racquet and Djokovic broke back.
The 21-year-old from Belgrade was not going to let another chance pass him by, and with unforced errors again counting against Gulbis, Djokovic held his nerve.
Nadal blitzed through to the last four in just over 100 minutes, making 47 winners and just nine unforced errors in a clay-court masterclass.
"It all went fine. Of course some players are able to play better than me but I am very happy with my game," Nadal said in a courtside interview.
"I will try and take the next match with humility and calm. Against Djokovic, it will be very tough, very hard until the end."
