By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, June 3, 2016
Novak Djokovic dismissed Dominic Thiem, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, surging into his fourth French Open final and a rematch with world No. 2 Andy Murray.
Photo credit: Reuters
A change of scenery and a dangerous challenger did not stop Novak Djokovic directing his Grand Slam vision toward the final stage.
A commanding Djokovic dismantled Dominic Thiem, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, powering into his sixth straight Grand Slam final at Roland Garros.
Watch: Haas Named Indian Wells Tournament Director
Playing his first semifinal on the cozier Court Suzanne Lenglen, the top seed turned in a near-flawless performance scoring his 27th consecutive Grand Slam victory to advance to his fourth French Open final.
"Best performance of the tournament," Djokovic said afterward. "As I was hoping after the long fourth round that I'm going to start playing better as the tournament progresses, and that's what's happening now. So I'm very pleased with the way things are going."
The world No. 1 will try to claim his first Roland Garros title and complete the career Grand Slam and Nole Slam when he faces world No. 2 Andy Murray in Sunday's final.
The 29-year-old Serbian is bidding to become the eighth man in history—and second oldest after Andre Agassi—to complete the career Grand Slam.
Serving with authority on pivotal points, Murray saved four of five break points dethroning defending champion Stan Wawrinka, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, to reach his first career French Open final. Murray's victory completes a career Slam of finals: He has reached every major final.
Born seven days apart, Djokovic and Murray first faced off at age 11, rose through the junior ranks together, broke into the Top 100 about the same time and will meet for the seventh time in a major final.
"It's pretty nice that our rivalry has evolved over the years," Djokovic said. "I don't think that there is any particular advantage to my side. I think mentally when we step on the court, sure, maybe to some extent, some small percentage, but he's playing in great form. We haven't played in Roland Garros too many times. We played I think last year in five sets. I remember that match very well. Let's see."
Murray beat Djokovic in the Rome final last month, but the world No. 1 has had the second-ranked Scot's number winning four of their six Grand Slam final meetings.
"It's another Grand Slam title up for grabs for both Andy and myself," Djokovic said. "You know, one thing for sure that I know that I can expect when I get on the court with him is it's going to be a very physical battle, which always is the case."
Stepping forward to take Thiem's heavy topspin on the rise, Djokovic dictated play throughout the first two sets. Court positioning was key. The three-time runner-up played closer to the baseline and pressured Thiem's kick serve. Djokovic won 18 of 33 points played on the Austrian's second serve, converting six of 13 break points.
"He's a leader of a new generation, very powerful, and has a lot of strength and variety in his game," Djokovic said of Thiem. "I managed to handle his heavy spin very well today, but I'm sure that, as I told him after the match, we're going to see a lot of him in the future if he continues doing so well."
Despite the lopsided loss, the 22-year-old Thiem will be empowered by his first run to a Grand Slam semifinal. He is projected to rise to a career-high No. 7 when the new ATP rankings are released on Monday.
Though he described his post-match feeling as "empty", Thiem should look back on the entire clay-court season with pride taking a major step forward. He posted a 25-6 clay-court record, including wins over Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, captured his third title of the season in the Nice tune-up tournament and showed the skills and competitive character well-suited for the dirt grind.
"Of course (I feel) also a little bit disappointment," Thiem said. "Well, he was just too strong today, and that's pretty much everything."
"I think he played really well today, but I also think that sometimes—or mostly throughout the match—I made it maybe a little bit too easy for him, too many mistakes," Thiem said. "But it's tough against him. He doesn't give you any presents. Return is unbelievable. It was already the problem yesterday that I didn't get any free points with the serve.
"Then if you have to play basically every game without serve, without the advantage of serve, it's going to be unbelievably tough against him."
Former junior rival Murray knows that better than anyone.