French Open Djokovic, Tsitsipas Reach Final

PARIS (AP) – Novak Djokovic has advanced to the French Open final and will play fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday. Djokovic stopped Rafael Nadal’s bid for a 14th French Open title and handed the King of Clay just his third loss in 108 matches at the tournament. Djokovic dropped the first set of the semifinal match before rallying for a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2 victory. He won the last six games as he takes aim at his second French Open championship and 19th Grand Slam title. Nadal had been 7-1 versus Djokovic at Roland Garros, losing to him in 2015. Nadal beat Djokovic in last year’s final. Fans were allowed to stick around for the end of the four-hour match. French officials lifted the 11pm curfew that would have otherwise forced the crowd of 5,000 to leave the stadium.
Tsitsipas edged sixth-seeded Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 to reach his first Grand Slam final. Tsitsipas was in meltdown mode at the start of the fifth seed, trailing love-40 after a double-fault before winning five straight points. He broke serve to go up 3-1 and cruised the reset of the way. Tsitsipas had been 0-3 in Grand Slam semifinals. Djokovic will try to join Roy Emerson and Rod Laver as the only men’s players to win each Grand Slam singles title at least twice.