World No.1 tennis player Novak Djokovic continued to gain confidence three days before Roland-Garros by reaching the semi-finals of the ATP 250 tournament in Geneva on Thursday without forcing his talent against the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 7-5, 6-1.
In difficulty since the start of the year, without the slightest final, the Serbian came for the first time to the Geneva clay court in search of results and consistency before the start of the Parisian Grand Slam on Sunday, of which he is the defending champion. .
Sometimes jostled by the German Yannick Hanfmann for his entry into contention on Wednesday and his 1,100th victory on the circuit, Djokovic measured himself on Thursday against completely different opposition against Griekspoor, 27th in the world, big hitter and adept at taking risks permed.
A good test for the record holder for Grand Slam victories (24), who really had to work hard in the first set to erase four opposing set points at 4-5 before stringing together seven games in a row.
Tough at the start of the match, the 27-year-old Dutchman then completely collapsed, not without reason: he had finished at the beginning of the afternoon his second round match interrupted the day before by the rain against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov , and had only three hours to recover before returning to the court.
Possible reunion with Ruud
During the second round, he suffered the rise of the Serb, who continued the games.
“He was the best player during the first set but he helped me with his mistakes,” commented Djokovic leaving the court, happy after this “great victory”.
In the semi-final, Novak Djokovic will meet the Czech Tomas Machac, 44th in the world, on Friday, who reached this stage for the first time on the ATP circuit after beating the American Alex Michelsen.
The world No.1 could meet in the final the Norwegian Casper Ruud (N.7), still in the race in Geneva where he will face the Argentinian Sebastian Baez in the quarterfinals on Thursday evening.
The two men, who faced each other in the final of Roland-Garros in 2023, could also meet again in the quarterfinals in Paris, depending on the draw made on Thursday.
