Novak Djokovic faces World No 1 Jannik Sinner in the French Open semi-finals and for a spot in Sunday’s title match against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
Djokovic, 38, is bidding to become the oldest male grand slam champion in the Open era and said there is “no bigger occasion” for him that taking on the World No 1 in a major semi-final at Roland Garros.
The 24-time grand slam winner proved he can still compete with the best after outclassing third seed Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals but Sinner, the reigning US Open and Australian Open champion, has beaten Djokovic in their last three meetings.
Earlier, Alcaraz fought back after dropping the first set to Lorenzo Musetti to book his place in the final for a second successive year. The Spaniard had taken a crucial second-set tie-break before Musetti began to struggle physically, with the Italian losing eight straight games before withdrawing early in the fourth set.