Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a standalone record 25th Grand Slam title by swatting aside third seed Alexander Zverev to reach the French Open semi-finals.
The 38-year-old sixth seed won 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 to set up a meeting with world number one Jannik Sinner on Friday.
Djokovic, who has three Roland Garros titles, lost the opening set to 2024 runner-up Zverev after being broken in the first game of the match.
But the Serb great did not drop serve again, although he had to survive a 41-shot exchange on break point at 3-2 in the fourth set on his way to sealing a record-extending 51st Grand Slam semi-final appearance.
“My way of playing is based on running, but at my age it’s not so easy to run so much,” said Djokovic, who is the second oldest man to reach the French Open semi-finals.
There he will face Sinner, who cruised into the last four with a ruthless straight-set victory over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik earlier on Thursday.
The Italian is still yet to drop a set at Roland Garros after winning 6-1 7-5 6-0 and bringing 62nd-ranked Bublik’s remarkable run to an end.
Sinner is hunting a first title on the Paris clay after previously only gone as far as the semis, losing a five-set thriller to Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz last year.
Djokovic or Sinner will meet the winner of defending champion Alcaraz and Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who also play on Friday.
