Djokovic defeats Murray to advance to French Open final
Novak Djokovic will play for his second Grand Slam title of the year. In a rematch of February's Australian Open final, the world No. 1 defeated No. 3 Andy Murray 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1. The match started on Friday afternoon but had to be suspended due to weather. They closed it out on Saturday morning.
The win puts Djokovic in his second-straight French Open final and third in four years. The loss is Murray's second-straight semifinal loss in Paris.
Djokovic earned the first break of the match at 3-all in the first set. From there he controlled the pace, taking the first set with a 6-3 advantage and doing the same in the second set. Just as the match looked to be winding down, Murray came alive. He earned his first break of the match on Djokovic's 15th service game, giving him a 6-5 lead in the set. He held serve to force a fourth set.
Leading 1-0 in the fourth, Djokovic squandered three break-point opportunities. Murray broke to go up 2-1, only to let Djokovic immediately break back. At 3-2, Djokovic missed another break point. Murray held on to even it at 3-all.
That's when officials walked out, signaling to the players and the chair umpire that the match would be suspended due to approaching storms.
Murray kept the momentum going when play resumed on Saturday, taking the fourth set, 7-5. And then suddenly the competition was over. Djokovic completely silenced the comeback, practically putting on a clinic in the final set.
"I'm very glad that I managed to finish this match as a winner," Djokovic said in his press conference.
The win extends Djokovic's streak to 28. He's 41-2 this year, and has defeated Murray each of the eight times they've faced off since the 2013 Wimbledon final. This snaps Murray's 15-match winning streak on clay.
Djokovic will face Stan Wawrinka, who advanced to the final by defeating hometown favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.
If Djokovic wins, he'll be the eighth man to complete the career Grand Slam, by winning all four of the major events. In his previous two French Open finals appearances, Djokovic fell to the king of Roland Garros, nine-time champion Rafael Nadal. Djokovic knocked Nadal out of contention in their quarterfinal match this year, opening the door wider than its been in nearly a decade.
______________
Danielle Elliot is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact her at delliot@yahoo-inc.com or find her on Twitter and Facebook.
