Unseeded Italian Marco Cecchinato caused a major upset at the French Open by knocking out former champion Novak Djokovic to reach the semi-finals.
Cecchinato became the first Italian man in 40 years to reach a Grand Slam semi-final with a memorable 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 7-6 (13-11) victory after three hours and 26 minutes over the 12-time Grand Slam champion on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Cecchinato, who had never won a Grand Slam match in his career before Roland Garros, will take on Austrian Dominic Thiem for a place in Sunday’s final.
“Maybe I’m sleeping. It’s amazing, it’s unbelievable for me. I’m very happy because it’s unbelievable to beat Novak Djokovic in a quarter-final at Roland Garros. It’s amazing,” said the 25-year-old Cecchinato.
“I was two breaks down on the tie-breaker and I had two or three match points and then on the fourth one I was very tired.”
Djokovic had his neck massaged by a trainer after dropping the first set. The former world No 1 then squandered two set points at 6-5 in the second but went on to lose the tie-break as the 72nd-ranked Italian won it 7-4.
The Serb raised his level to win the third 6-1 in just 27 minutes as he clawed his way back into the quarter-final and then called for the trainer again after reducing his deficit, this time to receive treatment on his right leg.
Cecchinato received a penalty point immediately after Djokovic was treated, for unsportsmanlike conduct, after a lengthy argument with the umpire and supervisor for leaving the court without permission..
The 31-year-old 2016 Paris champion failed to serve out the fourth in the ninth game after being 5-2 in front.
And in an epic fourth set tie-breaker, Djokovic saved three match points but wasted three set points as Cecchinato became the first Italian man to take part in a major semi-final since Corrado Barazzutti at the 1978 French Open.
