Stats: Novak Djokovic hands Rafael Nadal his third career loss at French Open

Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in a high-quality contest on Friday to set up a men’s singles final at the French Open against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who got the better of Alexander Zverev to book his place. In the women’s draw, Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova booked her berth in the final against Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.

Here are the best stats from the Roland Garros semifinals:

3

Djokovic’s 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Nadal is the Spaniard’s third career loss at the French Open, with Djokovic responsible for two of those defeats. The Serb also beat Nadal in the quarterfinals in 2015, while Nadal’s other loss came against Swede Robin Soderling in the round of 16 in 2009. His win-loss record at Roland Garros now stands at 105-3.

2 Related

5

This is only the fifth time a player has taken two sets or more off Nadal in a French Open match, with Djokovic responsible for three of those occasions (2013 semifinal, 2015 quarterfinal). The others were Soderling (2009 round of 16) and John Isner (lost in five sets in 2011 first round).

8

This is the eighth time in Djokovic’s career he has defeated the defending champion at a Grand Slam. That’s the most such wins by any male player since the Open Era began in 1968. The next closest are Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi (six each), followed by Mats Wilander (five).

This is also Djokovic’s eighth win over Nadal on clay, easily the most by any player on the ATP Tour. The next closest is Austria’s Dominic Thiem, with four wins over the Spaniard on clay.

6

Djokovic is into his sixth French Open final, tying Bjorn Borg for second-most all-time among male players. The first, of course, is Nadal with 13 Roland Garros finals.

29

Djokovic is into his 29th Grand Slam final, breaking a tie with Nadal for second-most in men’s tennis history. Roger Federer leads the list with 31 final appearances.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images 1

This was Nadal’s first career loss in the semifinals or later at the French Open. His combined win-loss record at the semifinal and final at Roland Garros now stands at 26-1.

35

Nadal’s loss snaps his 35-match winning streak at the French Open, dating back to 2016. It is the second-longest winning streak by a man at Roland Garros in the Open Era, trailing only Nadal’s own 39-match win streak from 2010-15. Both those streaks were ended by Djokovic.

At all Grand Slams, this is the fifth-longest streak by a man in the Open Era after Borg (41, Wimbledon 1976-81), Federer (40, US Open 2004-09) and Federer (40, Wimbledon 2003-08).

1

With his 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 win over Zverev, Tsitsipas is into his first Grand Slam final, becoming the first Greek player, male or female, to reach a major singles final in tennis history.

16 – 0

Tsitsipas had to do it the hard way, but he has now improved to a 16-0 win-loss record in Grand Slams when winning the first two sets.

38

The number of games in Krejcikova’s 7-5, 4-6, 9-7 win over Greece’s Maria Sakkari, making it the third-longest women’s Grand Slam semifinal in terms of total games played, since the Open Era began. It is the longest women’s singles semifinal at the French Open.

The only semifinals that had more games played? Serena Williams required 39 games to beat Elena Dementieva at Wimbledon in 2009, while Ann Jones also needed 39 games to defeat Margaret Court at Wimbledon in 1969.

52

With her 7-5, 6-3 win over Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek, Pavlyuchenkova is into her first Grand Slam final in her 52nd appearance at a major. In the Open Era, that is the most attempts needed by a woman to make her first Grand Slam final.

The previous mark was held by Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, who needed 49 Grand Slam appearances to make her first Grand Slam final at the 2015 US Open, which she won by beating compatriot Roberta Vinci in the final.

39, 22

Tsitsipas’ win over Zverev was his 39th match win this season, which is the most on the ATP Tour. These victories include 22 victories on clay, also the most on the ATP Tour this season.

22 years, 305 days

Tsitsipas’ age on the day of the final, making him the youngest men’s finalist at the French Open since a 22-year-old Nadal in 2008. Tsitsipas will be the youngest men’s finalist at any major since 22-year-old Andy Murray at the 2010 Australian Open.

(Stats courtesy of ESPN’s Statistics & Information Group)