Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem win in French Open quarter-finals

By James Dielhenn

Image: Novak Djokovic remains on a collision course with Andy Murray for the final

Novak Djokovic will play Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals of the French Open after the Serb eliminated Tomas Berdych in straight sets.

The 6-3 7-5 6-3 quarter-final win sent Djokovic into in the final four, with Andy Murray playing Stan Wawrinka in the other semi.

The world No 1 was never truly troubled by Berdych and marched into the last four having dropped just one set, to last-16 opponent Roberto Bautista Agut, en route.

Image: Tomas Berdych was frustrated by the rain delay

He raced through the opening set and, even when confronted by resistance at 5-5 in the second, the Serb broke at the crucial time to avoid a tie-break.

Berdych broke as the third set began but Djokovic immediately replied with his own, before the match was briefly suspended due to rain at 3-3. No sooner had they returned, Djokovic broke to go 5-3 ahead before serving out the match.

Advertisement

Thursday's result edges Djokovic one step closer to challenging for the only Grand Slam that still eludes him. Should he finally lift the Roland Garros trophy, Djokovic would be the simultaneous champion of all four Grand Slams.

In beating Berdych, Djokovic extends his winning record to 24-2 in their career head-to-head.

Also See:

Image: Dominic Thiem plays Djokovic next

Later, Thiem earned a 4-6 7-6 6-4 6-1 against David Goffin to book a match against Djokovic.

It will be the young Austrian's first Grand Slam semi-final and will improve his world ranking to within the top 10 for the first time.

Outbrain