Rafael Nadal won the giant duel against Novak Djokovic at the French Open.
The 13-time Paris champion won 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 4) at the Stade Roland Garros early on Wednesday morning and will now meet Alexander Zverev in the semifinals on Friday.
The German Olympic champion had previously prevailed against the Spanish tennis prodigy Carlos Alcaraz 6: 4, 6: 4, 4: 6, 7: 6 (9: 7) and thus, like last year at the Stade Roland Garros, the round of the last four reached.
Nadal converted his fourth match point in a high-quality game at 1.15 a.m. local time.
In the 59th duel between the two superstars, it was Nadal's 29th victory.
"Very emotional"
"It's very emotional for me," said Nadal after the 4:12 hour struggle: "Novak is one of the best players in history and you have to play against him at the best level from the first to the last point." Djokovic emphasized that that Nadal is a great champion: "I gave everything and lost to a better player today."
Nadal initially set the tone in the eagerly awaited match and repeatedly shone with spectacular passing balls.
Djokovic then came up, but defended himself in vain and the Spaniard Nadal shortened the 59th game of the two permanent rivals to 29:30 wins.
He got revenge for last year's semi-final defeat and made it to the last four at Roland Garros for the 15th time.
The 35-year-old Mallorquin thus has the opportunity to extend his lead in the number of major wins.
Since triumphing at the Australian Open, he has 21 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic and Swiss Roger Federer have 20 to show for themselves.
Djokovic's big goal is to make history as a professional with the most major wins.
The defeat on the Court Philippe Chatrier in front of an atmospheric audience is correspondingly heavy for the 35-year-old from Belgrade.