French Open: Novak Djokovic beats Pablo Carreno Busta to reach semi-finals

World number one Novak Djokovic overcame early physical struggles to beat Pablo Carreno Busta and reach the French Open semi-finals.

The Serb arrived on court with tape on his neck, repeatedly massaged his left biceps and grimaced on his way to losing the first set, but went on to win 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4.

It was a rematch of September’s US Open encounter where Djokovic was defaulted for hitting a line judge with a ball.

Djokovic faces Stefanos Tsitsipas next.

“I definitely didn’t feel great coming into the court today,” Djokovic, 33, told a news conference.

“A few things happened in the warm-up. I had to deal with those physical issues coming on to the court. As the match went on, I felt better, didn’t feel as much pain.

“But, you know, I don’t want to take away anything from his good performance. Especially for a set and a half he was the better player, dictating the play.” (BBC)

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