Novak Djokovic is creeping up on his first French Open title and 12th major with all the stealth of a panther who has been stalking his prey for a week. But he can hardly have expected when he began the hunt that standing in his way in the jungle clearing on the final Friday would be a young Austrian in a zebra shirt, Dominic Thiem, who played with stuttering brilliance to crush David Goffin in four sets in Thursday’s other quarter-final.
If Djokovic beats 22-year-old Thiem in his fourth match in as many days, he will take his place in the final on Sunday for the fourth time – against either Andy Murray or the man who stopped him so dramatically last year, Stan Wawrinka. On form, he remains favourite.
Djokovic destroyed Tomas Berdych for the 24th time in 26 matches on yet another grey afternoon spoiled by rain. The No7 seed, also draped in the sponsors’ distracting zebra shirt, was condemned to rejoin the herd as the world No1 crunched his best efforts with ominous ease in a match that last just over two hours.
However, all is not sweetness and gloom for the Serb. He came in for justified criticism later for his casual flinging of a racket in the second game of the third set that came perilously close to striking the line judge behind him. And the player did not like it one bit.
“I threw a racket on the ground and it slipped and almost hit the line umpire,” said Djokovic. “I was lucky there. That’s all.”
Pressed further, he responded tetchily: “I’m just not thinking about those kind of situations. I’m trying not to worry about it at all. I am aware that I have been lucky, and I apologised to people that have been in this particular situation with me and that could have been hurt by my racket. But it was never the intention. It was just [an] unfortunate bounce, but a fortunate ending of that scenario. That’s all I can say.” He has not had a lot of luck this week – apart from his results.
The cloud hanging over the 16th arrondissement is probably the same one that arrived last Saturday, as there is not enough wind here to blow out a candle, and the downbeat atmosphere on Court Philippe Chatrier could hardly have been more fitting as Djokovic clocked in for another day’s work to win 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
As for having to back up for the fourth day in a row, he said courtside: “I look at everything with a positive outlook. I have a lot of joy to come back here every day and play in front of the fans.”
That’s certainly putting the best possible light on it – in a week when there has been very little light at all. The last time most of us could remember proper sunshine was last Saturday, before the gloom descended on Djokovic’s third-round match against Aljaz Bedene, which the Serb tried to finish with all the urgency of a drunk waiting to go to the bathroom without the lights on.
“The way the scheduling has been going in the second week there has not been much time to reflect on what you’ve done,” Djokovic said. “I’m of course very pleased to be in the semi-final, but my focus goes straight to my recovery. For now it’s fine playing tomorrow and potentially the final on Sunday.”
Back in the bearpit that has witnessed some extraordinary drama over the years – and not a little of it the past fortnight –the players were met on Thursday with an atmosphere that resembled the House of Lord’s on a bad day; the benches barely half-filled until the second set.
Frustratingly for both players, they went off for rain midway through the third set, while the other quarter-final between Thiem and Goffin continued merrily (or rather, acrimoniously) in the drizzle. “That was one of the worst decisions I have had on a court,” Berdych said later of the postponement.
The rain, surely, was of the same strength on Court Suzanne Lenglen as it was on Chatrier. Still, they resumed and Djokovic finished the job – while Thiem hustled on to outlast Goffin 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1. He has many fine attributes – great court awareness, speed and strength – but it was Thiem’s forehand that shone, a blistering sword cutting the mist, and 28 of his 49 winners ripped across the net on that side. He will be dangerous for as long as it lasts against Djokovic.
