French Open: Men’s Semi-Final Review.

The men’s semi-finals at the French Open were concluded today. The two semi-finals were as different as the weather has been the last couple of days. Here is what went on the first summer’s day of this French Open.

Novak Djokovic beat Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

This match was as messy as they get at this stage of slams. Gulbis’ nerves resulted in error after error in the first two sets while an out-of-sorts Djokovic was just solid enough to close them out. In the third, Djokovic’s mind and game seemed to melt in the heat as Gulbis dug deeper and took the third set. The fourth saw an increasingly agitated Djokovic break a racket at 2-1 up as the match and his chances of the career slam got dicier. Luckily for the Serb, his opponent was in his first slam semi and did not have the experience to take advantage of his dip in form. Djokovic held firm, keeping his winners stats higher than his errors overall, while Gulbis hit one too many errors- 44 in all- and Djokovic  took the fourth set and the match.

The Serb later said he had no idea what would have happened if the match would have gone to a fifth. Gulbis competing in his first slam final or a weary Djokovic up against an increasingly in-form Nadal, most likely. Luckily the match did not go the distance and a rattled Djokovic, and an ill one, too, will have a day of rest before arguably the most pressurized match of his career.

Rafael Nadal beat Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.

This match was all about how good Nadal’s serve was and how poorly Murray returned. Truth is that Murray could not return well when faced with Nadal’s serve clipping the lines and bouncing on the dry clay nice and high and out of Murray’s reach. It was the same story for the groundstrokes, too. Nadal certainly picked his moment to find his best form, controlling points with his forehand and with aggression from the get-go and hitting 24 winners to 15 errors. He was also lucky to face an opponent somewhat frazzled by his earlier endeavors in the event.

Nadal will go into the final on a high after this performance. He certainly deserves to. Talk of his demise has been dominating tennis headlines lately, but Sunday, if the eight time champ plays like he did today, might be the day Nadal lays all such talk to rest, for now anyway.