BUZZING Novak Djokovic became the oldest man to make the French Open semi-finals since 1968 – as mosquito-munching Alexander Zverev choked once again.
The 38-year-old Serbian is showing no signs of slowing down and he won his 22nd consecutive match in three years on Parisian clay.
A 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 victory over the lanky German, 28, close to midnight on Wednesday secured him a last-four date with Jannik Sinner, the world No.1, on Friday.
No.3 seed Zverev took the lead after 49 minutes, the first set that Djokovic had dropped this tournament.
Yet after he revealed to the umpire that “I’ve swallowed about 50 flies already”, his fortunes swiftly changed and Djokovic swarmed all over him.
There was one astonishing 41-shot rally that by rights Djokovic should not have won but somehow he did in game six of the fourth set.
Zverev – who lost the 2024 singles final to Carlos Alcaraz despite being 2-1 up – has a habit of bottling the big occasions.
And he lost for the ninth time in his 14 meetings with the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Djokovic – who claimed the second set with a drop shot – might have ditched Andy Murray pre-Paris as his coach but he has not forgotten how to win tennis matches, especially ones that last more than three hours, although he did seal it on his fifth match point.
It was 57 years ago that a 40-year-old Richard Pancho Gonzales from America made it this far but he ended up losing to Rod Laver.
Earlier in the day, Sinner bashed up Bublik Enemy No.1 6-1 7-5 6-0 in 11 minutes shy of two hours.
Ever-reliable Jannik Sinner won a 19th consecutive Grand Slam match as he eliminated British No.1 Jack Draper’s drop-shotting conqueror Alexander Bublik in the quarter-finals.
Bublik, 27, produced 37 unforced errors and only nailed six drop-shot winners, which is half of what he achieved against the Brit.
Sinner, the No.1 seed, won the 2024 US Open and then backed that up by lifting the Australian Open in January – it could be three majors in a row come Sunday night.
He said: “We have played a couple of times before so we knew what to expect.
“But in the other way with him, you never know what is happening. He has beaten some tough players to get there.
“I tried to stay focused on my side of the court. Play as solidly as possible. He can have some ups and downs.
“I tried to stay consistent the whole match and serve well in the important matches.
“It was a good performance from my side. It was a bit windy and breezy, so things can be complicated.
“I warmed up in the hotel because it was rainy, then the sun came out. A lot of different challenges.”
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