By Greg Vega 
They started just before 21.00 on Tuesday. Finished at 1.15am on Wednesday. They played for four hours and 12 minutes. Some games last indefinitely, the longest is almost 19 minutes, others – 13 minutes, 10 minutes. Although every player faced crises, not a single player doubted their success even for a moment.
Roland Gross is not the only semi-finalist in danger. Djokovic and Nadal are fighting for the unofficial title of All-Time Tennis Player (GOAT), which reflects on their Grand Slam success. Spaniard 21, Serbian – 20.
So they played better. There is no doubt about it. They showed up to the tennis championship. From the first ball to the last ball.
It just started right. He led 6: 2 and 3: 0, with a double break from Serbian service. His big rival seemed to be unable to break from the path he had scored. The Spaniard did everything well and did almost exactly that. Djokovic – unnaturally for himself – was often wrong.
Despite the effect, the gems were tough. The first match lasted more than 10 minutes. Still, he won and broke Djokovic’s serve for the first time. In the first set he did it again – at 4: 1. He won 6: 2.
At the start of the second set, Serb defended himself six times without losing service. The seventh time he could not win. Soon the Spanish player won 3-0. There is no indication that the game will return.
But this is a different game of tennis heroes. They played for the 59th time. There were marathons between them. There were sudden twists and turns. That’s it this time.
Djokovic was born again. He won four games in a row. The main thing for him – he made up for the loss of the double fracture. In the sixth game, which lasted nearly 19 minutes, the two displayed extraordinary tennis skills.
The ATP ranking leader did not deviate from the path of success. He definitely took the initiative. He also finished the set with a breakthrough. The match lasted one hour and 28 minutes.
Third, Nadal – like the previous two – started winning a game in the opponent’s service. He started playing at the level of the first set. He was practically right. He imposed his style of play.
He soon took a 4: 1 lead and did not allow the Serbs to close the gap. He won 6: 2 – confidently and without debate.
Djokovic does not seem to have given up. Proved it in the fourth set. It quickly became 3: 0, then 5: 2. There seemed to be a draw in the game. The ATP leader began to lie paralyzed. He began to lose confidence in every missed game. It happened at 5: 5. Eventually a tie-break occurred.
The Serbian tennis player made more mistakes from the start. He lost 0: 3, 1: 6. The audience was stunned at Philip Chatterjee. Most were rooted to the Spaniards. The 35-year-old tennis player from Majorca did not miss this opportunity. He lost three more points, but won the tiebreak 7: 4 and the entire game.
He still advanced to the semifinals. His 29th win came in the 59th match against Djokovic. He has a chance of winning 14th place at Roland Cross and 22nd place at the Grand Slam. On Thursday, in the game for the final, he faces Alexander Sverrev.
Olgiard Kuviatkovsky
Roland Keros Men’s Singles Quarterfinals (Prize money EUR 43.6 million)
Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 1) – Rafael Nadal (Spain, 5) 2: 6, 6: 4, 2: 6, 6: 7 (4)
Alexander Sverrev (Germany, 3) – Carlos Alcaras (Spain, 6) 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7)
Andrei Rublev (7) – Marcin Silik (Croatia, 20) – Wednesday afternoon session
Caspar Route (Norway, 8) – Holder Rune (Denmark) – Wednesday evening session.