Paris: Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem will resume their Roland Garros semi-final at the Philippe Chatrier on Saturday after adverse weather conditions disrupted their match on Friday. When the day's play was called off, Thiem was leading the match 6-2, 3-6, 3-1 against the world No.1 from Serbia.
Apart from the semi-final between Djokovic and Thiem, Ashleigh Barty and Marketa Vondrousova, both first time finalists at French Open, will go up against each other in the women's singles final after the men's semi-final is completed.
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Jun 8, 2019 2:29 pm (IST)
Dominic Thiem showcased excellent guile and played with a calm head against Novak Djokovic on Friday. The usage of both his backhand and forehand was in sync as Djokovic was disbalanced and disoriented for much of the first set. If Thiem wants to beat Djokovic, he will have to maintain the high level of play for a longer period of time to set up his second straight Roland Garros final against Rafael Nadal.
The weather is expected to be cloudy and heavy throughout the day with the prediction of thunderstorm after 4PM local time. The wind is not expected to get any less harsh and the Philippe Chatrier is expected to be graced by the fierce gust of wind once again. With the conditions expected to be heavy and windy, it would once again favour Dominic Thiem who showed better ability to master the swing with the wind in play.
Jun 8, 2019 2:05 pm (IST)
Dominic Thiem was on fire before rain decided to play spoilsport and stop the play. He was troubling Novak Djokovic with his lofty balls, heavy forehand and powerful backhand. Some of his drop shots were an absolute delight to watch and one of them looked like this:
The wind on Friday was very harsh and playing in the red dirt, players struggled to handle the dust as it flew in their eyes and mouth. Such was the force of the wind that there was a point where Rafael Nadal turned his face away from the dust and stayed like that till the wind subsided before serving again. Even Novak Djokovic struggled to handle his shots in the fierce wind.
Former cricketer Ashleigh Barty will take on Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova in the women's singles final on Saturday. For both Barty and Vondrousova, this is their first Roland Garros final. After the gender inequality controversy where their semi-finals were shifted to secondary courts, the two ladies are set to take the centre stage for their final and will be hoping to put up a show for the audience that deserted them on Friday.
Jun 8, 2019 1:41 pm (IST)
Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem will take the Philippe Chatrier once again to resume their men's singles semi-final after weather conditions forced the suspension of play on Friday. Djokovic leads Thiem 6-2 in their head-to-head record but both of Thiem's wins have come on clay, including a win in last year's French Open quarter-final. With the weather conditions also helping the Austrian, Thiem will fancy his chances against Djokovic.
Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic are battling to face Rafael Nadal in Roland Garros final. Photo Credit: Reuters)
During the semi-final on Friday, there was harsh wind and heavy conditions as clouds hovered above the court throughout the day. While the women's semi-finals and Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal was completed without any adversity, Djokovic vs Thiem was disrupted twice before the play was suspended.
During the semi-final, Djokovic was seen having a lot of trouble with the intense wind and even complained about the same. However, he was told that everyone played in the same conditions and was asked to continue. However, controversy erupted after Djokovic had left the arena before the play was called off but the organisers confirmed that he left only after he was informed of the decision.
People even expressed their displeasure over the organisers calling off the day despite three hours of daylight left. In fact, when the play was called off the rain had stopped and the conditions were quite dry and it remained so for quite some time.
The women's final is set to be a cracking contest after Czech Republic's Vondrousova showed immense quality against Johanna Konta on Friday. Even though Ash Barty goes into the final as the favourite, it is expected to be a very tight contest.
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