Internet Desk: Novak Djokovic swept past seventh seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets to reach the French Open semi-finals. The world number one came through 6-3 7-5 6-3 and will face Austrian 13th seed Dominic Thiem in the last four.
Serb Djokovic, 29, is trying to win his first French Open title and complete the career Grand Slam. The singles quarter-finals will be completed on Thursday as Serena Williams takes on Yulia Putintseva, and Timea Bacsinszky plays Kiki Bertens.
Thiem, 22, beat Belgian 12th seed David Goffin 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-1 to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final. Djokovic had won 23 of his previous 25 matches against Berdych of the Czech Republic, and was never seriously threatened after beginning their 26th meeting in commanding fashion.
Berdych appealed for officials to take action when the rain, which has dogged this tournament, returned – but the closest Djokovic came to a quarter-final exit was a potential disqualification in the third set.
He let his racquet slip out of his hand while angrily swiping at the ground and was relieved to receive just a code violation as it narrowly missed a line judge.
Djokovic was already two sets up after dominating for an hour and a half, and moments later he recovered Berdych’s early break of serve in the third set.