French Open 2019 | Dominic Thiem beats Novak Djokovic in windy semi-final

After Djokovic ended Friday trailing 2-6 6-3 1-3  as the game was interrupted by the rain, the weather wasn’t very different the next day. Though Thiem completed a fabulous 6-2 3-6 7-5 5-7 7-5 victory on Saturday, it was also amidst erratic downpours.  

Djokovic, known for his clinical game, was thrown off gear as he gifted away points that were extremely uncharacteristic of him with ball seeing strange deviations. “One of the worst conditions I have ever been part of,” said the angry 32-year-old ace after his 26-match winning streak in Grand Slam ended, reported Reuters.

“I mean, obviously when you’re playing in hurricane kind of conditions, it’s hard to perform your best. It’s really just kind of surviving in these kind of conditions. I don’t want to point out some reasons or find excuses for this loss. I mean, he took it, he won it, well done to him,” Djokovic added.

The Austrian international would go into Sunday’s final against Rafael Nadal for the second consecutive time in a row while Djoker would move on to the grasscourt season as he failed to hold all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously for the second time in his career.

The Serbian, who hadn’t dropped a set in the entire tournament, was miffed when the windy conditions saw an umbrella flying across the court on Friday. Saturday didn’t see any such incidents but the weather remained windy with an angry Djokovic even getting warned by the umpire for unsportsmanlike conduct after losing the third set in a dramatic 12th game.

“There is no rules. What I was explained yesterday on the court in the first set, when I asked the supervisor, he said as long as there are no flying objects coming on court, we’re good. I didn’t know that an umbrella is not a flying object, which flew in the first game of the match. But that’s their decision. I guess they know tennis better,” added Djokovic.