Familiar foes Nadal and Djokovic set for semi-final clash

They have met 34 times, more than Nadal and Roger Federer, and they will come face to face across the net again in the French Open semi-finals tomorrow.

Eleven of those matches have come in the last three seasons, eight of them won by Djokovic, but all of them have been finals.

The Serb has won Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open, Nadal last year’s French Open, but the Spaniard’s seven-month break because of knee problems means he is only seeded third here.

Nadal, of course, has lost only once at Roland Garros and won the title seven times, while Djokovic is through to his 12th consecutive grand slam semi-final.

After yesterday’s 6-3 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 victory over Tommy Haas, Djokovic said: “It is what it is. I don’t want to talk about what if, what if, because we are playing in the semi-finals and we are both in good shape. It’s going to be a good match.

“I’m feeling good about my game. It’s few adjustments here and there, but of course I am satisfied to be able to win in straight sets and not to stay on the court for too long.

“I could have done the job before in the third set but he came back with some good points. That’s it. Now I have a big challenge in front of me and I’m ready for it.

“Regardless if I play Rafa or if I play somebody else, it’s the same mindset. But I need that necessary intensity from the start.”

Nadal, who is going for an unprecedented eighth title at a single grand slam, had struggled through the first week, dropping sets to Daniel Brands and Martin Klizan.

But he rediscovered his form against Kei Nishikori and looked even better yesterday in a 6-2 6-3 6-1 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka.

The Spaniard said: “I said I need to make a change. I was confident that I can do it and I did. So now I am in the semi-finals, three matches in a row without losing a set. The last two matches I only lost one service game.

Djokovic’s run of consecutive slam semi-finals is behind only Roger Federer, who managed an incredible 23 from Wimbledon in 2004 to the Australian Open in 2010.

Maria Sharapova trusted her fighting instincts as she battled back from a love set to defeat Jelena Jankovic and reach the semi-finals.

The last time Sharapova recovered from such a position to win a match she was 15 years old, but she dug in and came through 0-6 6-4 6-3 to set up an intriguing semi-final against Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka and Sharapova have met 12 times before, with the Belarusian leading 7-5. She reached the last four after a 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 win over friend and former doubles partner Maria Kirilenko.

n Beverley’s Kyle Edmund reached the last eight of the boys singles at Roland Garros.

The 18-year-old defeated Noah Rubin of the United States 7-5 5-7 6-3 yesterday morning to set up a quarter-final match with 
Germany’s No 4 seed Alexander Zverev. Fifth seed Edmund was knocked out at the quarter-final stage last year.