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French Open: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal to reach men's final

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after beating Rafael Nadal of Spain in the French Open men's semifinal Friday at Roland Garros in Paris. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA-EFE
Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after beating Rafael Nadal of Spain in the French Open men's semifinal Friday at Roland Garros in Paris. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA-EFE

June 11 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Novak Djokovic halted Rafael Nadal's bid for a 14th French Open championship by earning a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over the Spaniard in their semifinal match Friday in Paris.

After trailing 0-2 in the fourth set, Djokovic rattled off six straight games to clinch the victory in a match that lasted a little more than four hours. It was only Nadal's third loss in 108 matches at the tournament.

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Djokovic will attempt to claim his second trophy at Roland Garros and his 19th overall major title when he competes against fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday's men's final. It will be Djokovic's sixth time in the French Open final, tying Bjorn Borg for the second-most appearances in the event behind Nadal (13).

It will be Djokovic's 29th career Grand Slam final, and the first for Tsitsipas, who defeated Alexander Zverev in five sets in a semifinal match earlier Friday.

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Nadal had captured the previous four titles in Paris. He now trails Djokovic 30-28 in their all-time series, but Nadal holds a 10-7 record over the Serbian in Slam meetings and a 7-2 mark over him at the French Open.

Djokovic previously won the French Open in 2016 and could become just the third man ever to win each of the four Grand Slam tournaments twice, joining Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.

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