Here was one moment – in the middle of 4hr 11mins of unparalleled brilliance – to make amateur hobbyists feel better about themselves. He probably should have won the set on the tie-break, too, but for the most uncharacteristic of errors on a forehand volley. He was at his most physically intense at this stage, investing everything he had in whipping up heavy topspin off both wings. Twice, the defending champion went down a break. The amazing thing was that Nadal stayed with Djokovic as closely as he did. We were almost an hour into the set before he made an unforced error. By this stage, Djokovic had recovered from a poor start – in which he lost the first five games – to find his peak level of metronomic accuracy. The heart of the contest was a third set that lasted 92 minutes – which is longer than many regular tour matches – and swayed this way and that like a ship’s mast in high seas. Instead, the fans were allowed to stay, and celebrated by chanting “Merci, Macron!” According to the rulebook, Court Philippe Chatrier should have been cleared of its 5,000 spectators at 2-1 in the fourth set. The match was so utterly compelling that the French authorities staged a intervention over the planned 11pm curfew. More than that, he has been plotting, planning, and sharpening his weapons – which on Friday night included a fusillade of laser-like crosscourt backhands.

Judging by the flawless construction of his four-set victory, Djokovic has been waiting for this moment ever since Nadal trounced him in last year’s French Open final. He had already won the Rome title and the Barcelona title, to demonstrate that he was fully prepared for his traditional Parisian parade.īut his nemesis was ready for him. Nadal arrived at Friday’s semi-final on a sequence of 33 straight wins at this event.

In 2015, he was in the middle of a two-and-a-half-year spell when he completely misplaced his mojo. In 2009, Nadal was suffering from sore knees and personal turbulence caused by his parents’ separation. Technically, this was the third match that Nadal had lost at the French Open, after previous reverses against Robin Soderling in 2009 and Djokovic himself in 2015. He defeated a full-power Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. On Friday night, Novak Djokovic did something that had never been achieved before.

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